Of roses and frost
by Nuredhel
Summary: Thranduil tries With the help of Elrond to find a suitable wife for his son, the one elleth they chose seems to be Perfect but Legolas cannot know of their small plan, neither can she. She is as stubborn as a mule, as temperamental as a she-dragon and has a Secret of which nobody should ever know, not even herself. If she remembers she'll die, if she doesnt everything will be lost.
1. A most devious plan

_Chapter one: A most devious p_ _lan_

« It is of the uttermost importance that he knows nothing of this little…arrangement!"

Thranduil's voice was calm but there was a small hint of mirth within it, he put down his goblet and smiled towards Elrond who stood at the window, watching the gardens.

Elrond had a strange expression on his face, he looked as if he really didn't know whether he should laugh or scowl. " I understand that Thranduil, I know your son pretty well. But are you absolutely sure that none of the ellith back in Mirkwood have caught his attention?"

Thranduil sighed. " Yes, the problem is that he knows all of them, he's grown up with them and I guess that they are too familiar in a way. There is nothing exciting about them. A stranger on the other hand, someone who isn't even supposed to interact with him in any way? That could be just what's needed. The Valar knows it's about time he does find the right little elleth and settles down."

Elrond saw the wisdom in Thranduil's words, forbidden fruit is always more tempting than the one dangling right in front of you and Thranduil's attempt at using reversed psychology could in fact be a success, or maybe an utter disaster.

Thranduil grinned, he looked a bit mischievous there and then. " The elleth for my son must be rather special, she has to catch more than his eye. Good looks can be deceitful, and over time it becomes boring without a matching personality. "

Elrond poured some more wine into Thranduil's goblet, the king was there on official business but he had found the time to discuss this delicate matter nonetheless. And of course it all had to be kept as a strictly guarded secret, Legolas should never learn of this attempt at playing matchmakers. Elrond made a grimace. " You are asking for much Thranduil, an elleth suitable for a prince, suitable to one day maybe become queen. "

The tall silvery blond elf turned around, he shrugged. " I know, and I will not feel too disappointed if there is nobody who fits the demands, I care deeply for him Elrond, he is my only child and I want him to be happy. Oh there are plenty of ellith swarming around him but they are after his title damn it, not one of them sees him as the lovely person that he is, all they see is a prince and a crown and a chance to increase their social status. I am rather sick of it!"

Elrond could understand Thranduil, cold and intimidating as he usually appeared he was nothing like that on the inside. He loved his son dearly and would do anything to avoid seeing him heartbroken. To find a suitable wife for his son had to be a task he had to handle with the outmost caution, things could go terribly wrong.

Elrond sighed and stared out at the lovely garden and the waterfalls of Imladris, he nodded slowly. " Well, I remember my youth and I do clearly remember that the one elleth all the young ellyn were after was the one who just didn't want any of them."

Thranduil tilted his head, there was a short glimpse of something almost a bit wicked in his eyes, he had gotten an idea, that was rather obvious. " So, the one elleth I should choose should be one who is uninterested? That may actually work!"

He turned toward the dark haired Peredhel and grinned. " I assume that there is no such person here? I am asking for a lot, and I know it. But I would feel overjoyed if he finally finds love and peace. "

Elrond nodded. " That is what every parent wants for their child. Well, actually…"

Thranduil raised a perfect eyebrow in an expectant way. " Yes?"

Elrond had a strange expression on his face. " There is one elleth here in Imladris who may suit your plans and criteria. But I am warning you, she is out of the ordinary in almost any way imaginable"

Thranduil looked very eager. " Really? Tell me more please, who is she?"

Elrond grinned and mimicked for the king to follow him. They walked along a corridor and out into the gardens, then they followed a narrow path and stopped on top of a waterfall. Underneath it was a small glade with some trees and a pavilion. Some ellith were gathered there and they were singing and chatting merrily while they sewed on what had to be a tablecloth of some kind. Elrond nodded and pointed his finger. " There, by that statue, that is her. Her name is Mariliel and she is sort of my protégé. Her parents died when she was a mere child and she has been raised here, she is a very distant relative by the way. "

Thranduil stared and he looked a bit silly, he was really staring hard at this elleth because he had never in his long life seen anyone like her. Out of the ordinary? That was no exaggeration to say the least. First of all she was a redhead but not like any other red haired elves he had met, no, her hair was a color of deep dark red like fine burgundy wine and some locks were of a lighter color which almost resembled blood on color. Her skin appeared to be milky white as it often is on red haired women and she was tall and extremely elegant. He saw that she got on her feet, her hair reached the back of her calves and she was wearing a gown in rather dark colors, green and copper and it made her hair and skin even more striking.

Elrond grinned. " Now, watch!"

Thranduil stared in fascination as the elleth picked up a flute and tried to play something, she obviously was unsuccessful because he could see that she lifted her leg, broke the flute over it with a shriek and then threw the flute on the ground and trampled on it before she turned around with her chin held high and an almost regal expression. He could see that she was a very curvy one, a lot more than most ellith and she appeared to be fit too.

Elrond chuckled. " Mariliel is one of a kind I tell you, she is extremely smart and intelligent, has a heart huge as a hobbits appetite and she can be trusted like few others. But, and that is the small problem my friend. She does also have the temper of a dragon with a toothache, she is impulsive, reckless, has a foul mouth at times, starts fights just to see if she can win and she has a way with horses like none other I have seen. "

Thranduil just stared at Elrond in disbelief. " On the other hand, she is very protective of those she loves, an excellent archer and even better at swordplay. She is brutally honest and never shies away from anything, perhaps a bit too bold is how you can best describe her."

The elven king was a bit shocked by what Elrond told him, this had to be one exceptional elleth indeed. Elrond continued. " And she is also very modest, her moral is impeccable and she knows all there is to know of etiquette. She has never had any scandals tied to her name or even been caught alone with an ellon. She appears to be almost afraid of males, why I don't know."

Thranduil was staring at her again, she was beautiful and mysterious and he knew that those two traits combined would catch his son's attention for sure. Heck, he knew that she would have had a possible suitor in himself had he been a young and single ellon. He felt almost jealous of his son, she was truly unique and her strange quirks were just fascinating.

" I have found the right one, I am sure. He will be smitten by her, as sure as daylight follows the night."

Elrond smiled but the smile was somewhat sad. " Yes, but be warned, many have tried to find a way into her heart and none has succeeded. She is stubborn, headstrong and sure of what she wants. But she is also soft and caring and she can be very compassionate. It is just that her mood seems to swing in every thinkable direction and for no apparent reason. She is as happy as a horse in a green meadow one moment and the next she's weeping because she saw a dead bird in the woods. She is not very mature I fear."

Thranduil frowned. " How old is she? "

Elrond looked at the peaceful scene. " Seven hundred and fifty two so she is a mature elleth, she has spent almost all of her years here, and she is very well educated. She loves reading and she adores books so I think I know how we may accomplish this little plot of yours without any of them knowing the truth behind it"

Thranduil grinned. " I am listening!"

Elrond turned and started walking back to his study. " I am aware of the huge amount of ancient books and scrolls which were gathered by your father, there could be much valuable information within them, information we need. If I send her on a mission to explore your fathers library and make an inventory of everything within it she will be occupied for at least half a year if not even more, and there will be plenty of opportunities for the two of them to bump into each other by chance. "

Thranduil nodded slowly. " A good plan, I will make sure that no others disturb her, we wouldn't want any rivals to her attention now do we? And I will tell my son to stay away from the scholar from Imladris, that should tick him off I think. He loves to disobey me whenever he can!"

Elrond laughed. " Now, I think we do have a plan. I will talk to her and see if I can convince her to handle the task of going through the library. I do know her well, she will be thrilled and proud and eager to start and she will never be able to see that she's a part of our little plan."

Thranduil almost rubbed his hands together in anticipation. " Good, I pray the Valar that we may succeed. I know that there is a chance that the two of them will end up hating each other or just feeling nothing at all but there is a chance is there not? If I just present him with a young elleth and demand that he gets married he will buck and rear and fight me in any way that he can."

Elrond cocked his head and opened the door to his study. " I am sure he will yes. I will try to send her too Mirkwood before autumn, if she has to spend winter there the chances of our little plan ending with success are good. "

Thranduil bowed his head slightly. " I am most grateful my friend, if I can make my son happy and whole it doesn't matter that we play a little dirty does it?"

Elrond shook his head. " No it doesn't, in love and war everything goes!"

The next day the king of Mirkwood and his entourage left Imladris and Elrond prepared the final stages of their plan. He waited for a few more days until everything went back to normal and then he sent for Mariliel. She arrived at his study just as he had asked her to do, she appeared to be a little confused and Elrond put on a very friendly but still serious facial expression. He smiled at her and bid her sit down and she looked at him with trust and curiosity. Elrond moved some papers on his desk and smiled once more. She moved in her chair, she was always a bit restless. "I am here, why did you want to see me?"

She was always the impatient one and he took out a book from his desk and opened it. It was a list of all the books and scrolls in the Imladris collection and Mariliel had helped making the inventory. He saw that she recognized the book and her curiosity peaked, she stared at him and her emerald green eyes were shining. " Mariliel, I have summoned you for a very specific reason, I have a question for you and I want you to think it over before you answer to it. It is a very important task that I need to have done and I have come to the conclusion that you are the only one I trust it with."

Mariliel was leaning forward on her chair and she was apparently very curious now, she was almost shivering like a racehorse on the starting line. " Yes my lord, I am listening?"

Elrond tried to look as serious as he possibly could. " As I am sure you are aware of we were recently visited by the king of Mirkwood and he told me of the great collection of ancient scrolls and books gathered by his late father. It is an entire library, almost as large as the one we have here and of course completely unregistered. It is a mess, that's all I know. But it is of the outmost importance that we get an overview of what it contains of information. These are dark times and everything may prove to be valuable. There could be priceless information stored away in those vaults."

Mariliel bit her lower lip, she seemed eager and Elrond sighed and stared at her, his gaze very friendly but stern. " I had a discussion with Thranduil, he is not too fond of having a group of strangers running around within his palace but he did at least agree with me on some points. The library has to be explored and an inventory made of every book and scroll. Since he didn't want a group I asked if a single person would be acceptable and he did accept, under doubt mind you. So here I am trying to find that one suitable person to send to Mirkwood, it will be a very important mission and one that will require someone with both integrity and wisdom. And first and foremost impeccable manners and a good ability to work with efficiency and speed."

Mariliel was staring at him with huge eyes, she was obviously hoping that this person could be her but she did not really dare to think that it would be possible. He continued while watching her reactions out of the corner of his eye. " I first thought about sending Lindir but by the Valar, he is much too timid and well behaved to be sent on such a journey, those Mirkwood elves will spin him around their little finger in a flash. No, so I decided that the person had to be someone with a bit more guts, someone used to stand up for herself. So I am asking you Mariliel, would you do me a favor and go to Mirkwood on my behalf?"

Mariliel just gasped, she stared at Elrond and then she grinned so widely he could count all of her perfect teeth. " Oh I want to, I most definitely want to. I am so honored by your trust my lord"

Elrond smiled at her, petted her hand gently. " Do not give me a final answer just yet dear child, think about it. It will be a lot of work and it may be very lonesome work too. Just you and the books."

Mariliel almost jumped up and down. " I know, it is perfect! I want to go, please? I am not afraid of hard work, you know that."

Elrond sighed, she was of course right, she was able to work as hard as anyone and she was so stubborn she often pushed herself way too far before she finally had a complete breakdown.. "You will have to leave in about two weeks and the journey will be long and rough, I will of course send some of my best guards with you to keep you safe."

Mariliel was beaming with joy, her eyes were shining and she looked as if she was ready to leave there and then. Elrond got on his feet. " I trust you Mariliel, I know that you will be able to fulfill this task in the best possible way, just make sure that you don't cross anyone, those Mirkwood elves are a proud and somewhat stubborn bunch. They don't appreciate strangers that much."

Mariliel just smiled, she was obviously already planning on how to start her job. " That won't be a problem at all. I will only think of my duty, not of mingling with the locals."

Elrond grinned, that would be just fine as long as she did mingle a bit with one in special. " I am sure it won't. Well, then we have an agreement, I will make the necessary arrangements and send a dove to Mirkwood with a message. They should be prepared for your arrival."

Elrond saw how she was practically dancing out of the door, prepared? More like warned! Mariliel had caused quite a few scenes in her life and he just prayed that this would end well and not in some utter disaster.

Mariliel was running down the paths toward her small home. She had a tiny cottage and she felt how the excitement threatened to overwhelm her completely. She was going to Mirkwood, to go through an entire library on her own, imagine that Elrond trusted her this much. She was so humbled by this fact and she swore that she would be worthy of his trust in every way thinkable. She would do an excellent job, one which would be remembered for centuries.

She had to run around her home a couple of times just to get the restless energy out of her, she felt like she was flying. She could not believe her own good fortune, she would be allowed to travel, to read many ancient books and maybe discover secrets long forgotten. It was just so exciting, she could not wait. Two weeks? That was such a long time, she would go utterly mad, she wanted to go tomorrow but she of course knew that it was impossible. She had to tell her friends of this, and of course she would have to prepare Erenion also. The horse would need some new shoes and she would have to ride him every day so he would get in shape for the journey. She spun around herself a few times before she ran towards the stables.

She had her own horse there, she had found him as an abandoned colt in the woods and it was rather obvious to everybody that he was no ordinary animal. First of all the stallion had grown to become the largest horse anyone had ever seen, black as a starless night and with a temper of an almost imperial type. She was the one person he would accept and she was the only one who could ride him. To her he was as kind as a kitten, to everybody else the horse was a hazard. But she would be safe on his back, Erenion could outrun even a mearas and if she had been willing to sell him she could have been very rich indeed.

She stopped by his stall and the huge animal whickered and nuzzled her gently. She fed him a carrot and petted the black coat. He had been steel gray as a colt, therefore the name which meant iron, but he had gotten darker over the years and that was just opposite of what was normal for horses. They usually started off as dark and became lighter as they grew older. " My friend, we are soon going on a long trip, so I'll have the farrier check on you tomorrow."

The horse flicked his ears and nodded, she was certain that he understood every word she said, he was very smart and had often opened the stable doors and run off to find her. She gave him one more carrot and then she went home to prepare a list of the things she needed to bring along.

Two weeks went surprisingly fast, Mariliel was so busy making preparations she barely had time to register that the days flew by. She met her friends and bid them a kind goodbye and she packed her clothes and the equipment she needed. Elrond was not interfering with her preparations at all, he trusted that she could handle it on her own. She had to laugh by the notion of Lindir being sent to Mirkwood, he always looked as if he was afraid that something was going to attack him or that he would do something wrong. No Elrond was wise to send her, she knew how to stand up for herself and talk her way out of trouble. At least most of the time she did, unless she lost her temper.

She had scared some elderly ellith once by screaming curses in khuzdul after she spilled ink on her best dress and those curses were so bad even dwarfs would have been deeply shocked by them, quite a feat when considering that the art of making insults and curses is in high regard among the dwarves. She went for a ride every day and she met the five guards who were to accompany her on the way, They had to travel light and fast and a small group is easier to hide that a huge one. Mariliel wasn't even a tiny bit nervous, she was so looking forward to starting her work, it would be the challenge of a lifetime and she could not wait.

The night before she was to leave she had a nightmare, she had not had any bad dreams for a while but she always had the same one. She could not remember what it was about when she woke up but she always woke up with a scream, soaking with sweat and so terrified she barely could breathe. It had been like that since she was a child and Elrond and the others had tried to help her and get to the bottom of why she had such terrible dreams but nobody managed to get any answers even with the help of magic and so the dreams continued to haunt her from time to time.

Mariliel had a feeling of dread whenever she even thought about those dreams, it was as if she feared to remember what she dreamt because it would be too horrible to endure. All she ever had remembered was seeing a shade over her, something grasping a hold of her, and then there was only fear and despair. Perhaps it was best to never know the meaning of those nightmares, it could be months between them and they often started again when she was under a lot of stress. She just hoped that they wouldn't interfere with her work.

She was tired when she got dressed and ate a quick breakfast before she went to the stable. She got the saddle on Erenion and prepared the horse. She then rode up towards the center courtyard to meet her guards and bid Elrond goodbye. He was already there and so were the guards. They were on the backs of their horses and they had her equipment and things on a pack horse. Elrond smiled when he saw her, she was ready and he crossed his fingers. He hoped that the Valar would bless this little scheme of theirs and steer her in the right direction. She would make a perfect spouse for someone like Legolas.

Mariliel nodded and Elrond grinned and bowed his head. " May the Valar guard your path my friend, and know that I am truly proud of you. Do not let anything distract you from your work and I pray we will see you again soon."

Mariliel grinned. " I will not disappoint you my lord, I will do a marvelous job I swear."

Elrond nodded and there was a hint of mirth within his eyes. " I am sure you will my friend, have a safe journey and send a dove as soon as you reach your destination."

Mariliel grinned and kicked Erenion into a trot. " I will, just you wait and see!"

Elrond watched how the group rode up from the valley, then he went back indoors. He could just pray that the plan didn't backfire, it would be interesting indeed to see how this went. And if it went to hell then it was of course Thranduil's idea to begin with. He sat down with glass of wine and a grin, Mariliel would most certainly turn a few heads when she arrived and he just hoped that her hot temper and untraditional behavior didn't get her into trouble, at least not too soon.


	2. A task of monumental proportions

Chapter two: A task of monumental proportions

Mariliel had of course been outside of Imladris before but it was such a long time ago and she had been a mere elfling back then. She didn't remember anything and now the poor guards riding with her were to suffer from her curiosity. She was asking questions about everything and after just a couple of days they started to avoid her when they camped or took breaks. The forests were not all that dangerous yet but as they approached the mountains they had to keep quiet. There were orcs roaming this area and if they could avoid fighting they would.

Mariliel had never seen an orc and was curious but the captain who was leading the group quickly made it very clear to her that it was something she shouldn't ever wish to encounter. Mariliel got bored rather fast, her mind needed to be occupied all the time and so she found a book in her bag and sat reading while her horse just followed the others. She trusted her huge black steed completely and knew that he could bring her to safety if something was to happen. She almost hoped that something exciting would occur but the most thrilling thing that happened during their journey was that they had to cross a flooded river and she got soaking wet all over since the horses had to swim.

She found the journey thrilling for the first days but then the routine started to bore her and soon she longed to reach their destination. She was so looking forward to do her job and was imagining how she would transform that old library to a state of perfection. Oh it was exciting, what treasures would she find there? And she was to fix everything on her own, she had free reins. As they got closer her eagerness only grew and she became almost manic in some ways, desperately trying to get as much information out of the warriors following her as possible. The trees of Mirkwood fascinated her and the huge cobwebs even more and the warriors would roll their eyes and exchange glances of both mirth and despair. They too were looking forward to the end of this mission, guarding this elleth was like herding a huge pack of rabbits.

Fortunately they soon encountered some Mirkwood guards who escorted them the last part of the journey and Mariliel was so fascinated by their different attire and dialect she forgot to bother the warriors. Thankfully she got the answers she wanted from the sylvan elves although they were a bit shocked by her very direct questions and continuous stream of words. They would all breathe a huge sigh of relief when they reached the palace, cause damn, nobody had ever met a more talkative elleth.

Thranduil knew that the group escorting the elleth was approaching the palace and he felt a knot forming in his belly, he was anxious and tense and had to fight his own need to fidget around with the papers on his desk. He had to appear as calm as ever if he was to fool his son. Legolas had been summoned to his office and Thranduil put on an expression of slight displeasure and anger. He had learned how to control his own appearance a long ago and he knew he could fool almost everybody but Legolas knew him and was a smart young ellon too. Legolas entered the office, he had returned from a patrol just hours ago and was tired and a bit frustrated. He had wanted to go to the baths, soak for a few hours and then take a long and very much needed nap but no, his father didn't seem to care about the fact that his son was exhausted.

Thranduil didn't look happy, in fact he had an expression on his face that Legolas had learned to dread. He cringed internally and tried to look alert and ready for everything. Thranduil sighed and lifted a piece of parchment, shook it slightly. "I guess you remember my recent stay in Imladris? Elrond insisted on sending someone to go through the old library left by my father. I did of course object but the fact remains, it needs to be organized and so I agreed on one scholar being sent here to get it back to its former glory. However, I do not trust these…noldor!"

Legolas knew that the relationship between the sindar and noldor elves at times could be a bit tense due to the unfortunate events of the first age. His ada had never fully forgiven the noldor for the sacking of Doriath and he never allowed noldorin elves access to Mirkwood unless their reason to go there was very serious. He had a relationship of mutual respect with Elrond and did regard Galadriel with a huge dose of distrust and Legolas knew that his father would have preferred to close his realm to the outside world completely if it had been possible. "I hear you ada, what does this have to do with me?"

Thranduil sighed and grasped his wine glass, swirled the red liquid around for a moment, just to calm him nerves. " There is one scholar of Imladris approaching the palace now as we speak, but I am rather sure that he or she may be ordered by Elrond to gather information about us. I would like to keep that elf under surveillance."

Legolas almost scoffed, he knew that his father was a bit paranoid but this was over the top, to say the least. " Ada, you seriously think that this scholar is a spy?!"

Thranduil nodded. " Yes, so I want you to keep your eyes open and your ears even more. If this elf starts asking questions that seem out of place do report to me. You know everybody here, the staff and the guards, you will be able to detect anything unusual about this person. And do not approach him or her, keep your distance."

Legolas felt a sting of anger, his ada was ordering him around again as if he was some elfling, or servant. He sent his father a stiff nod. " I will do as you ask of me ada, worry not!"

Thranduil smiled swiftly. " Excellent, and make sure that none other will disturb this scholar, I want the job done and then that elf can go packing back home to Imladris and stay there. The faster the work is done the better."

Legolas found the hostile tone in his father's voice a bit concerning, had he perhaps argued with Elrond about this? He knew that his father hated losing an argument and giving in to Elrond's ideas had to feel like a giant defeat to him. " I understand!"

Thranduil sighed and took a sip of wine. " Excellent, you may go, but do show up when they get here, discretely of course. They ought to be here before the sun sets."

Legolas let out a sigh of relief, he would have time to bathe, eat and sleep some. Wonderful. He sent his father a nod and turned around, left the office and failed to see the smug smirk that for a second crossed his father's face. Thranduil had thrown in the bait and he had a strong suspicion that Legolas would go for it. He knew his son, Legolas would get very curious and also a bit suspicious and he would most certainly try to keep an eye on Mariliel. And then hopefully the interest would become something much sweeter, he grinned again and drained his glass. Yes, this would be interesting to watch.

Mariliel was getting tired by now, and even her mighty horse was slowing down. The forest was rather dark and depressing and the interest she had shown was fading. She was getting quiet and the others were very relieved in deed. Finally some peace. The path leading to the palace was both wide and safe and before long she was half asleep in the saddle. She had pulled her cloak up and the cowl covered her head almost completely. She wanted to rest and be alert and at her best when she arrived.

The palace gates opened and the group entered through the huge gate, Mariliel lifted her head and stared at the giant hall with wide eyes, she had never seen a place like that before. It reminded her more of a huge forest than an underground cave and she wasn't really aware of anything around her except the wonderful architecture. Erenion snorted and suddenly the stallion reared, he didn't like being underground like that and he did smell strange things that made him uneasy. Mariliel quickly got the horse under control again and giggled. " You big buffoon, calm down. You are safe here"

Legolas had been standing on a balcony that was very well hidden high up on the wall of the first cave and he had immediately noticed the amazing black stallion, he was impressed by the sight and he decided to have a chat with the owner of that animal. It had to be an Imladris warrior and an exceptional rider for that animal had to be a handful. The stallion reared and the rider got it back under control again right away, he was even more impressed now. But the cowl fell off the riders head and he blinked when he saw a huge mass of dark red hair and the face of an elleth.

This was no warrior? Oh Eru, it was the scholar?! Legolas was gaping, how was this possible? He had expected some dusty old noldo and instead it was a rather young elleth? His ada had told him to spy on the scholar and suddenly that task wasn't so terrible anymore. The servants and stable hands came to take care of the baggage and the horses and the warriors followed the Mirkwood guards to the rooms reserved for them. An elleth in a maid's uniform came for the scholar and seemed a bit stunned by the fact that it was a young elleth and not an elderly male.

Legolas was intrigued, to say the least. But he couldn't seem too eager so he returned to his room, but his head was buzzing. He had never seen anyone with hair like that before, could it be some very distant relative of the Fëanorions of the past? Oh he bet his ada was fuming if that was the case, no doubt that he would prefer that the job got done in a flash so he could send that elleth packing. But the elleth had handled that horse better than anyone he had ever seen and she didn't seem like a person who would cower even before his father. This ought to be interesting. He grinned to himself as he went back to sleep, the days to come could become more thrilling than he had hoped for.

Mariliel was shown to a room that lay rather close to the servants quarters, it wasn't large and it wasn't very luxurious at all. In fact she suspected that the servants had better rooms but she didn't mind. She would spend her time in the library and the rest of the place had no interest to her. The room had a narrow bed and a sort of closet for her clothes and she got unpacked really fast. Now what? She wanted to start working but she was tired and hungry too. She had forgotten to ask the maid where she could get some food and she started to feel a bit miserable. She didn't know anyone there and she was more than a little lost.

She sat on the bed and felt light headed when there was a knock on the door and a servant entered, bowing politely. " My lady, I am to show you to the dining hall, and then to the baths."

Mariliel let out a sigh of relief and got up, she yawned and noticed that the servant was staring at her hair with wide eyes. "Thank you, I am famished."

The servant just nodded and she followed him through the winding corridors and over bridges and paths until they entered a wide hall filled with tables and benches. A few elves sat there eating and everybody stared at her, she felt strangely intimidated by it. At home everybody knew her and she rarely encountered strangers, here she was the stranger and it seemed as if everybody thought it was alright to glare at her. She hissed at an elleth who were particularly wide eyed. " What are you staring at?!"

The poor elf backed off and looked rather startled.

She sat down at a table and a cook brought her a huge cup of what had to be some sort of ale and a bowl of stew! STEW! Mariliel had rarely eaten anything else than vegetables and fruit and such and meat was rare, and then it was usually just chicken or fish. This was obviously some poor boar and she thought about cute little piglets and felt her throat go dry. " Go ahead young lady, do eat. You need some food after such a long journey."

The cook seemed like a very nice elf so she gathered her courage and took a huge bite. It did taste good, there was nothing wrong with the flavor but the consistency? It reminded her of porridge and she hated porridge. Oh Eru, if she was to eat like this every day for months she would rather starve! The ale was fresh and tasty but unusual and she had to force herself to swallow. She was unused to alcohol and feared getting tipsy right away. It wouldn't look good.

She felt so small, and lost and wanted to drown herself with work so she could forget about everything else. She managed to eat all the stew, simply because she was so very hungry but she felt bloated afterwards and rather guilty too. Meat was just for feasts back in Imladris and she had always preferred eating just plant food. Her favorite was mushrooms and she was rather good at cooking them too. There were some very special types growing within the hidden valley and she was renowned for her ability to transform them into something very delicious.

The servant smiled at her. " There is to be a feast tomorrow evening, the king wants you to attend."

Mariliel groaned. " Oh Eru, I don't have anything to wear, and do I really have to go? I want to start working!"

The servant cocked his head. " I am afraid that the king would be very…offended, if you were to refuse his orders. Clothes will be provided for you, don't worry about that."

Mariliel rolled her eyes. " Alright, I guess I have to go then, but just because that cocky blonde king of yours says so."

The servant looked shocked by her words. " Ah, right, well, the baths?"

Mariliel grinned. " Yes please, I feel like I am wearing a bucketful of dust."

The servant tried to smile but her behavior seemed to have shocked him a bit. She followed him and felt how her skin tingled with anticipation. They entered a huge room with a pool that was shaped almost like a crested moon and the water was rather hot. She got the shock of a lifetime when she realized that both genders bathed there, at the same time! Back in Imladris there had been separate baths for males and females and she bit her lower lip. There were some ellith bathing there and also some warriors who stood in a group combing through each other's hair. They were chatting away about some orcs they had slain and a huge spider which had gotten too close for comfort during an attempt to destroy a nest.

There were small booths in which to undress and leave your clothing and Mariliel felt how her face felt stiff and strange. She was unused to bathing with others but she did need a bath sorely and if everybody was used to it she shouldn't feel too bothered. It wasn't as if she had something the other ellith didn't.

She assured the servant that she could find her way back to her room alone and got into one of the booths. Damn it, she didn't even have something to change back into afterwards, just the huge grey robe that hang in every booth. Alright, she would have to run back to her room but that was okay, she needed to bathe. She felt like a moron as she got out of the booth, wanted to cover herself but knew that it would be silly. The others there did nothing to hide their bodies and so she shouldn't either but it made her feel uncomfortable. She walked towards the pool and the warriors got aware of her, they stared.

Mariliel cringed and felt exposed, vulnerable even. One of them wolf-whistled and a couple of the others were rather wide eyed. Were all Mirkwood elves this uncouth? She turned around to enter the pool and one of the warriors whistled again. " Look at that, now that is something I would love to sink my teeth into!"

Mariliel gasped when she realized that he was referring to her ass. She had more curves than most other ellith and she had always been embarrassed by it. Never more than now! She felt herself blush intensely and she felt them stare, felt their gaze sliding over her like she was some horse for sale at a market. She felt a lump forming in her throat, a surge of panic rushed through her and she tossed herself into the water, desperate to cover herself. She let out a small shriek, the water was very hot and she hadn't known it was that deep. She had to swim a few yards to get back to the edge of the pool and she was sputtering and gasping when she managed to grasp a hold of it once more.

One of the other ellith there approached her, she seemed like an older person and seemed very calm and maternal. " Are you alright dear? Don't let those morons startle you, they don't mean anything by it. "

Mariliel tried to smile but her heart was beating so fast, she was feeling dizzy and didn't really know why she felt so scared. " I…I am not used to bathing with…males!"

The elleth clicked her tongue. " Oh I understand, but here you have to get used to it. It is only the royals who has private baths."

One of the warriors was grinning widely. " Hey there fire top, you did a great job with that huge horse of yours but if you get tired of riding him I have something I would love for you to ride for a while!"

He hoisted himself out of the water by his arms and Mariliel let out a gasp and turned around, the ellon was aroused and rather well-endowed too and she had only seen erections in drawings and art. She felt like fainting and the other elleth snarled at the male. " Faladon, have you forgotten everything about courteous behavior? This is a young elleth, a guest too and you are behaving like an orc! Shame on you!"

The ellon in question only did an obscene gesture which included his groin area before he got back into the water, the warriors were laughing rather hard. The elleth noticed that Mariliel was pale and shaking and she bit her teeth together. Such a young thing brought up in a civilized and peaceful place as Imladris would probably never have experienced the rather rowdy attitude of these warriors. The sylvan had a very different way of behaving and talking and she suspected that this guest was very protected and innocent. She gently pulled some of Mariliel's hair out of her face and smiled at her. " I am Aeniel, I am a healer. I guess you are the scholar from Imladris?"

Mariliel nodded, she felt terribly scared still but didn't really know why, it was just…she didn't know. " Yes…I am Mariliel. I am sorry, I just…"

Aeniel smiled. " Don't apologize, that moron ought to do that. These young males are yet unable to treat a female with respect. Ignore them, that is the best way to deal with them."

Mariliel tried to smile again, Aeniel touched her hair again. "Such a lovely color dear, so rich and warm. Unusual for an elleth to do such a job, cataloging a library? Sounds boring to me"

Mariliel grasped a jar of soap with trembling hands, she had to forget about this incident. " Oh but it isn't, it is exciting and I cannot wait to start. I am very honored by lord Elrond's trust in me."

Aeniel smiled and helped her massaging the soap into her thick hair. "I am sure you will make him proud dear. Tell me, I don't think you are of entirely noldorin blood?"

Aeniel sensed the turmoil within the young elleth and tried to bring her mind over to other things. Mariliel nodded. " You are right, my father was a noldo but my mother was of both sindar, telerin and avarin descent."

Aeniel whistled between her teeth. " That is quite a remarkable pedigree young one, no wonder you are such a unique person."

Mariliel blinked. " I guess, I know I got my temper from her but I am very intelligent and that came from my father I am sure."

Aeniel frowned. " Are they no longer here?"

Mariliel shook her head, her throat felt thick again. " No, they got killed by orcs when I was just an elfling, Elrond took me in and I have been raised in Imladris."

Aeniel shook her head. "That is tragic young one, so very sad. But I am sure you were treated well by the lord of Imladris?"

Mariliel nodded. " Oh yes, I have never lacked anything and I chose to become a scholar rather early too. I love books you see"

Aeniel started combing through Mariliel's long hair, she was amazed by the color. She had never heard of an elf with such color before and she doubted that even the family line of Mahtan could brag about anything like it. " I am sure you do dear, if you find something about healing I would be very grateful if you let me know. Oropher had books from Doriath, some are said to have been written by Melian he

rself"

Mariliel gasped and suddenly she forgot all about the glaring ellyn. " Really? Eru, that is so exciting, imagine being able to hold something written by a maia. I have to get started soon!"

Aeniel saw the spark in the young elleth's eyes and grinned, to be so young and full of zeal. "Not today Mariliel, but I am sure the king will arrange for you to be shown the library tomorrow"

Mariliel let out a sigh. " I feel like I cannot wait, it is the most important job I have ever done, I am so excited!"

Aeniel grinned. " That is very apparent dear, now, let me braid that impressive mane of yours and then you get some of that dust off of you and go back and have a good night's rest."

Mariliel nodded. " I will try, but there is a feast tomorrow? I don't want to go but I guess that I have to"

Aeniel tilted her head. " It is the celebration of the king's begetting day, not showing up would be an insult so do go but you don't have to stay for very long."

Mariliel swallowed. " Alright, will you be there?"

Aeniel nodded. " Yes, of course."

Mariliel felt relieved." Good, at least one person I know,"

The healer finished braiding her hair and Mariliel scrubbed the dust of her skin, then she got a robe on and the healer followed her to the booth. " If those ellyn start bothering you again just tell them to get lost. They think they are tough but it is all just a show."

Mariliel giggled and Aeniel patted her shoulder swiftly. " Go now dear, and if there is anything you are wondering about don't be afraid to ask me. I am at the healing ward most of the time."

Mariliel felt as though she had gotten a friend and smiled before she got her clothes and hurried back to the room she had been given. She felt so excited and also nervous and she had a feeling of something being different now that she had someone she could consider a friend. Things were brighter, and she didn't feel so lost anymore. Aeniel was probably an elleth with lots of wisdom and knowledge and she had to sit down with her some time and write down everything.

In spite of everything Mariliel fell asleep right away, she was so tired and it was wonderful to be clean again and she didn't even dream anything. Her sleep was restful and deep and she felt sure that she would be able to do a great job.

Aeniel was on the other hand not so calm, she had a bad feeling churning around inside of her mind and she had learned to trust her instincts. Something about that young elleth was off, it didn't feel right. Her reaction towards those ellyn was a bit too much, she had appeared as if she was about to pass out or something and Aeniel was not so convinced that the ellyn of the guard and others too would be able to stay away from Mariliel. She was like a fresh piece of meat presented to a pack of wolves, exciting and exotic and her startled response to their advances would only trigger an even more eager pursuit.

Aeniel was thinking for a while, then she decided to act. She couldn't just sit there and not do anything. She got her best robes on and walked towards the throne room. She was a member of the king's council and one of the few elves who didn't have to ask to talk to the king in advance. She told the guard by the door that she was there and wanted to speak to Thranduil and the guard let her pass. She saw that the king sat with a book, he would often read when nothing was happening and she knew that many thought he was just a pretty face and an aggressive attitude but that was wrong. Their king was a very complex being and capable of far more than anyone would guess.

Thranduil saw her and cocked his head, Aeniel was one of his favorites. She was wise and also an elleth with a huge heart and lots of common sense. " Aeniel, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Aeniel did curtsy and bowed her head. " My lord, I am here about the scholar from Imladris, She worries me"

Thranduil immediately tensed up but didn't allow her to see it. " Really? Why?"

Aeniel cleared her throat. " I am in no doubt about her skills or her dedication to her task, she is extremely eager to get started and I am willing to swear that she will get the old library back in perfect condition in record time, but it is her very person that is worrisome."

Thranduil waved his hand. "Do elaborate please? Her person?"

Aeniel felt herself blush a bit. " Ah, I don't know if you majesty have seen this elleth but she is…well, she came to the baths and there were some ellyn there and they startled her. She seems to be a very innocent being and reacted in a very peculiar way when considering the fact that she is a mature elleth."

Thranduil tried to look indifferent. " I think I may saw her in Imladris, red head yes? So what is the matter?"

Aeniel sighed. " Then you must have seen that she is rather exotic looking, and to be frank very attractive. The ellyn were glaring my lord, and making some very lewd comments about her."

Thranduil felt a sudden need to growl, darn, nothing was to interfere with his plan. " She is a noldo, I don't care about such comments but I will not allow anyone to distract her from the work to be done. I want that elleth out of here the sooner the better"

Aeniel almost gasped at the kings harsh words but she knew that Thranduil didn't trust the noldo. " She is only part noldo my lord, and those ellyn were very rude! Is that what you want her to tell the others in Imladris? That the Mirkwood elves are deprived of manners and act like orcs?"

Thranduil scoffed. " I don't care if some maidenly elleth's sense of propriety has been hurt, but I will discipline those ellyn, we cannot allow guests to be treated thus. It hurts our reputation."

Aeniel tilted her head, it didn't seem normal to her that Thranduil was this indifferent but he probably had a lot on his mind. " That would be wonderful yes, thank you. One of the warriors…exposed himself. And she nearly passed out!"

Thranduil felt a bit worried, was she that sensitive? That could cause problems, he knew that Legolas was a bit passionate when it came to amorous activities. This would be a difficult balancing act indeed. He waved his hand. " You may leave Aeniel, I will take care of this."

He would be damned before some cocky young ellon managed to snatch Mariliel out from underneath Legolas nose. He had to make sure that everybody knew she was off limits for now. He gestured for the guard by the dais to come closer. " Get me a list of all the warriors who are off duty now, I want to talk to them."

The ellon nodded and left and Thranduil sighed. He had to convince them that he ordered them away from her just to prevent her from being distracted. But her reaction was indeed something that made him worried, Elrond had mentioned that she was a person with a high moral. Was she perhaps so pious she would rebuke even a prince? Could she in fact be frigid? Or was she just so occupied by books and lore she hadn't discovered what life really was about? She was probably a virgin and Thranduil made a grimace, he hoped that she wouldn't be too fascinated by the library to notice his son. That would be a huge disappointment.

Mariliel woke up the next morning feeling very well rested and she hummed to herself as she washed her face in a bowl of water and braided her hair. She was so excited and tried to act like normal as she walked to the dining hall to get breakfast. She ate her fill with bread and honey and nuts and a servant appeared to guide her to the library. It was in the basement and she understood that the vaults were huge the moment she saw the door ahead of them. It was grand and carved from rock like the entrance to the palace and the servant smiled and found some keys in his robes. " This library was originally placed in the first palace of Amon Lanc, then it was moved to the next palace south of here but they didn't unpack it and it was brought here when the caves were finished. And nobody has had any time to go through it, it hasn't been unpacked for…let me see, almost an age? Yes, that would be right."

He opened the door and Mariliel gasped. The rooms were gigantic and filled with shelves and crates and sacks of documents and she felt a shiver running down her spine. It would be a job of mammoth proportions. Just the crates? Eru! She had thought about three months, this was more like three years! But what did she care? It was books, wonderful books and lore lost for a long time, she was privileged to be able to do this. The servant handed over a list. " Here, this is the inventory of what was brought down here when we moved into this place."

Mariliel stared at the short list. It simply said. " Crates: 5479, sacks with scrolls and papers: 12789, rolls of scrolls and open crates unmarked: 4450, bookshelves with books: 2431."

Mariliel gasped and felt her knees go weak, that many? How was that possible? The servant was fidgeting with his sleeve. " Ah, Oropher was fond of collecting"

Marilliel almost growled. " But apparently not fond of order. Damn, this will be…quite a job"

The servant nodded slowly. " Aye my lady, but I am sure you will manage. "

Mariliel tried to send him a very confident smile. " Oh yes I will, but it will take time. Anyhow, I am sure your king will be very pleased with the result."

The servant bowed politely. " Beyond any doubt my lady, I will make sure that somebody is sent to inform you of all the meals and if you need anything just tell the servants."

Mariliel smiled but felt a bit overwhelmed already. "Okay, ah, the feast tonight?"

The servant shrugged. "Someone will come for you when it is time to get changed and ready, worry not."

Mariliel sighed and turned around as the ellon walked out of the door. The room was lighted by huge lamps and it had to be a whole job just to keep all the candles lit and replace them. She stared over the vast expanse of floor, crates everywhere! And this wasn't even the only room?! Sweet Eru how much work this would be but there has to be a start to everything so she located a desk placed in the middle of the mess and found some parchment and ink and quills.

She made a list of where the different books and scrolls were to go and started moving some empty shelves into an open area so she could start opening some crates. It was tough work for the shelves were heavy and she was sweating like a pig after a while. Then she pulled a couple of crates forth and took up a pencil and prepared to start writing. The crate was nailed shut and she did manage to find a crowbar in the middle of a heap of just old junk. It was rusty and weak but she got the lid off and stared into the crate. It was packed with books! There had to be at least two hundred down there and she felt both frustrated and eager at the same time. She picked up one, it was a handwritten notebook and on the front somebody with a very neat handwriting had written" Expenses and costs for the royal kitchen, book nr 127"

She opened it, it was lists of things the chefs at the royal court of Amon Lanc had ordered and how much it had cost and she blinked in disbelief. One book was one month of notes? Damn they had been eating well back then. Here and there were small footnotes and she did find that these books had to be very valuable indeed. The chefs had made small personal notes in the marrow and one place she saw that somebody had scribbled with rather angry letters. " Never again prepare a feast for dwarves, they toss their food!"

She giggled and marked the crate with a number, wrote it down. This would have to go to the section of the library she would create for such things. The next crate was a mix of old diaries and some notebooks that had to be somebodies idea of poetry. There were lots of poems and they had been re-written numerous times and she had to stifle a disrespectful laughter when she read some of them. The one who had worked on this didn't exactly come out as a great poet, rather as a person who should stay far away from such activities.

She opened and marked some more crates, they contained everything from lists of the crops to the names and value of the horses in the royal stables. She knew that these were valuable documents and they told a lot about history so she made sure she got it all right. She had completely forgotten about the time that flew by and suddenly she heard somebody banging on the door. A maid entered and she smiled and clapped her hands. " My lady, it is time for you to come and take a bath, and get changed into a dress too"

Mariliel sighed, already? She had just started and felt a bit angry because of the interruption and she wiped the dust of her hands and bit her lower lip. She would return soon enough, this was getting more and more exciting. She followed the maid to the baths and this time there were nobody else there so she got to bathe without being interrupted. Afterwards the maid dried and braided her hair and they returned to her room. Somebody had left a dress there, it was like no other dress she had ever worn and she had to gasp and stare at it. It was made from satin and velvet, deep bottle green and golden and with a thin embroidered veil of copper colored fabric over and the embroideries were made to look like vines with small flowers. The dress was exquisite and the worst thing was that it fit her perfectly. The tailor had to have an insane ability to measure somebody just by looking then, for she had not had her measurements taken for years.

The maid also added some make up to her cheeks, fixed her hair and put some jewelry on her. Where that came from she had no idea. When the job was done Mariliel felt like a stranger in her own skin, like a damn doll or something. It wasn't her but she did look great, she had to admit to that and the maid was beside herself with admiration and proclaimed that Mariliel would break hearts by the dozen that night.

She went towards the feast hall and slowed down as she heard the sounds of people chatting, some music and singing too. The scents of food and wine drifted through the air and she felt so out of place. Back at Imladris she had always shunned such social events, she had never enjoyed herself while being surrounded by others and she feared the reactions she was sure to receive. She was a stranger after all and unfamiliar with the culture and the way these elves did think.

The hall was grand and decorated with all sorts of pretty flowers and garlands and there were people everywhere. All dressed in their finery and Mariliel did make a deep sigh of relief when she realized that the dress wasn't over the top after all. It was rather modest compared with the gowns of some of the ladies of the court. She walked down the stairs towards the crowd hesitantly and Aeniel suddenly came running and grabbed her hand. " Oh there you are dear, you look amazing tonight. Come, let me introduce you to the other healers, and the scholars of this place"

Mariliel hadn't known that Thranduil did have any scholars at all, why hadn't they organized the library? She soon realized why, these were not the kind of people who had the time for such activities. These were specialists in fields like war and defense and such, military advisors and also experts on agriculture, forestry and other useful fields. But they seemed curious about her and also respectful and she was introduced to one by one and managed to smile and look relaxed.

Before long she was pulled into a conversation and enjoyed herself a lot, they were discussing the growing of wine grapes and Mariliel hadn't know that there were so many different things to consider when a vineyard was made. Suddenly the king approached and everybody bowed their head in respect, the ladies curtsied and Mariliel was a bit stunned by his appearance. She had never seen him before but she had talked with others who had and they hadn't been exaggerating at all. He did look stunning, and also very intimidating. Those cold blue eyes were peering straight into her soul and she had to keep her gaze fixed on the floor. The king stopped in front of her. "So, this is the scholar Elrond sent us, how nice of him to consider our lack of experts when it comes to the conservation of ancient books and scrolls."

The way the king spoke made it sound as if he meant the exact opposite and Mariliel felt the tingling sensation of anger starting to form at the back of her head. " Elrond is very wise my lord, and knows the difference between things that are truly valuable and worthless trinkets."

She kept her voice low and even and polite and nobody who didn't know her would have been able to detect the true meaning of her words. She was of course referring to the king's infamous love of gems and shiny things and she feared that her tongue had brought her into trouble again but the king didn't react at all, or at least he didn't react in a way others did notice. " A truly admirable trait indeed, and so he has sent us such a delicate young thing, he is generous indeed"

Mariliel knew what he was insinuating, that she was too inexperienced to do any good, just somebody Elrond had sent there to keep his word. She felt even more angry than before but managed to stay cool. " Well, young eyes tend to see things ancient ones are missing."

Thranduil was having fun, she did indeed have some courage and a huge amount of pride too, great. That was what he needed for his son. He had shown the others that he wasn't all that pleased about this visitor but now he had to show a gentler side, if he was to be her father in law he had to win her over. " Aeniel told me of the incident in the baths today, the ellyn who bothered you have been disciplined and will not dare to insult your sense of decency again."

Mariliel was thrown of balance by his sudden words and had to blink a few times just to gather her senses. "That was kind of you but I am able to look after myself, I was just…shocked!"

Thranduil nodded " Yes, I know, but still you are a guest and I will not have the honor of this realm soiled by some rowdy youngsters. Now, if you will excuse me my lady?"

He bowed shortly and left and Mariliel felt confused. It wasn't for her sake he had punished those ellyn, it was for the sake of his own honor, or was it? Aeniel grasped her by the arm and dragged her over to a table filled with desserts and fruit and before long she was busy tasting all sort of delicious creations. The cooks there were excellent and she got a bit too much wine and was starting to have a good time. She did notice that the ellyn were staring at her, the dress did nothing to hide the fact that she had a great body and some came asking for a dance. She rejected them all, for she didn't really feel like dancing and she usually never danced except at very special occasions.

But she soon felt like a flower surrounded by bees and these were court members, polite and well behaved who just were curious and wanted to know more about this stranger and she found that she did like this. None of them were trying to really flirt and they were nice. Aeniel was there the whole time and so Mariliel relaxed and laughed and giggled just like any other elleth. The feast lasted far into the night and soon the king retired and many followed his example. Mariliel felt tired by now, and light headed too. One of the kings counsellors had told her a rather funny story about a time when some elflings had gotten into the kitchens and mixed a laxative into the stew that was to be served for dinner that day and the mayhem it had created and she discovered that this place was far from as gloomy and sinister as she had thought at first.

Aeniel had excused herself and so Mariliel too decided that it was time to go to her room and sleep for a few hours. She was a bit unsteady on her feet and felt silly and she knew she was drunk. It was stupid of her to get drunk but she hadn't really counted the number of times she had gotten her glass refilled, all the stories and interesting conversations had sort of stolen her attention.

She almost collided with a huge vase standing in a corner and scoffed, she shouldn't have been there at all, but down in the library with the books. That was way more rewarding, tomorrow her head would feel like lead and her tongue like a desert. Suddenly a hand grasped her elbow and she was spun around. " Allow me to help you young lady, you are clearly a bit too tipsy to stay on an even keel"

It was an ellon wearing a court uniform, probably a page or something and he had green eyes and rather dark hair. Mariliel hadn't seen him before and felt a bit nervous right away. He was too close, and he did smell of wine. " Thank you but I am almost home now, assistance isn't needed"

The ellon put his arm around her waist and tried to pull her closer. " Really? I can offer all sorts of assistance my fair one, I bet those ellyn over at Imladris are too tame to really do any good right?"

Mariliel just knew it, this was a situation which could get nasty so she tried to push him away rather sternly. " It is not needed sir, please leave me alone. I don't feel well and want to return to my room and sleep"

The ellon was leaning in, trying to kiss her. " I can help you relax pretty one, believe me."

He suddenly pressed her up against the wall and she felt his hand descending into her bodice. Mariliel reacted upon sheer instinct, she kneed him in the groin and smacked him right across the face too and the ellon collapsed gasping for air. Mariliel backed away from the male who was clutching his crotch with bulging eyes and then she heard a new voice from behind. "What in heck's name is going on here?!"

She turned around and saw that a young blonde ellon stood there with his arms crossed and a rather shocked expression upon his face. Mariliel saw that his clothes were simple but yet expensive and he wore a circlet and some rings that had to be priceless. The ellon she had kicked groaned. " P…prince Legolas, stay away from this…vixen. She is mad!"

Mariliel felt herself blush and simultaneously go pale. Prince?! King Thranduil's son? This rather handsome guy was the king's heir? Oh darn, this time you have really screwed up, her inner voice was a bit sarcastic as she tried to curtsey and look like she hadn't done anything wrong. The prince cocked his head and there was something calculating in the blue eyes, they were not as cold as his father's and he looked way more sympathetic.

" I doubt that she is mad, I think you just insulted the lady and she did protect herself, as it is her right to do. Get lost before I call upon the guards to throw you in the dungeons for a few days."

The ellon managed to get back onto his feet and staggered away moaning. Legolas stared at the elleth, he had of course heard what the warriors had told of her and they had been telling the truth. She was gorgeous and different, exciting. So, how did he approach this one? He was already getting curious about her and wanted to get to know her but the way she had handled that ellon told him she was fierce. He bowed politely and offered her his arm while making sure that he didn't get too near her. " I am Legolas Thranduilion, may I escort you to safety my lady?"

Mariliel could have sworn that some demon had stolen her tongue but she but her chin up and just spat it out. " Thank you kind sir but I am perfectly capable of finding my way back alone, and I do not need to hang from some ellon's arm like a dead deer, I am actually capable of walking. Have a good night"

She finished with a loud hiccup that sounded like thunder in the narrow corridor and she saw that the prince was more than a little shocked by her. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Why did she always screw up the first meeting with important people?

 ** _Hello :) Thank you so much to every Reader and reviewer, It is greatly appreciated. Some have thought that Mariliel is a bit of a Mary Sue and she may be that at the moment, the first Chapter of this story is actually among the first stories i started writing but it got lost during a disk crash and i forgot about it. I didnt want to change it when i rediscovered it because i wanted to see what i could do With it. This is AU, not canon so certain Things are different than in the books of Tolkien. Yes, she seems to be a bit too Perfect but she has some issues, just wait and see. Yes, no_ Horse _can outrun a Mearas,_ horse! _The animal she thinks is a horse is not a horse really, so a bit of a spoiler here, just to put Things right. One guest left a very long review and unfortunately it had been shorted Down by the system so i couldnt read all of it, i do appreciate the time taken to Write it though, all feed back is great._ **


	3. Book and memories, scrolls and nightmare

Chapter three: Books and memories, scrolls and nightmares

Mariliel rushed back to her room, feeling how her cheeks were burning with a feeling of shame and shock. Oh she just hoped that this didn't ruin her stay there, the king obviously didn't want her in his palace and what if he demanded that Elrond sent someone else?! That was a terrible thought and she was almost panting as she shut the door and pressed herself up against it. She didn't regret what she had said, she didn't need the help of an ellon for she saw herself as just as strong and clever as any male but she did regret saying those words to the prince. She rolled her eyes and walked over to her bed, her head was swimming and her eyes felt as if she had poured sand into them.

She sat down, swearing in a way that would have made Elrond blow a fuse or two if he had been there and heard her, she didn't want to create problems for herself and now she probably already had. The prince would certainly tell his father of her less than polite behavior and whatever goodwill she could have hoped to gain from the royal family had probably just flown out of the window like a frightened dove. She slowly removed the jewelry and the dress, it was not likely that she would be allowed to wear anything that grand again for quite a while, if ever. She thought it was sad, she had in fact liked that dress, she had felt feminine and elegant and that wasn't anything she was used to.

She got her nightgown on and laid down, the bed felt hard and it had lumps all over it, the matrass had to be an old one and she cringed when she thought of its previous whereabouts. Eru alone knew who had been using it, perhaps the stable hands? She sighed and tried to relax, the evening had in fact been nice for most of the time and she hoped that she had made some new friends or at least made some people think of her in a positive way. It was cold there too and when her candle burned down pitch black, she felt miserable and tried to keep thinking about the library and the wonderful knowledge she was to bring back into the light. She fell asleep very slowly and just wished to put this day behind her and forget about it, all of it.

 _It was dark, and there were hands, rough hand that felt greasy and hard, something pressing against her nose and mouth and she couldn't breathe, she couldn't breathe, she wanted to scream for her nana but she couldn't and she was so terribly afraid. Where was nana? Nana had to come for her, she didn't want this! The hands were under her dress, no, no, you cannot, it isn't right, let go of me! She wanted to scream but something hit her in the head and everything went black._

Mariliel woke with a start and a muffled scream, she stared up at the ceiling, heart beating in a frantic rhythm and sweat pouring off her. The nightgown was soaked and she was trembling all over, her hand wrapped around her neck as if to check that there wasn't anything there strangling her. She had never had a nightmare that bad before but she didn't really remember what it was about, just that she was terrified. She sat up, whimpering and feeling cold. It was an entirely new sensation to her and not one she enjoyed, the eldar shouldn't be able to feel cold the way the mortal did, she was feeling a sort of distanced curiosity but her shock was too great to be overcome. The small room was choking her, there wasn't enough room in there for her, she had to get out. She grasped a dressing gown, it was old and thin and worn but she couldn't have cared less. She just ran, gasping with tears flowing down her cheeks and when the door to the library appeared in front of her it seemed like her only true salvation. She rushed through it and fell to her knees in front of a crate filled with books, touched them with reverence, tried to let the atmosphere within the vaults seep into her and wipe the terror away. She was safe there, no nightmares could find her among these beloved books, her true friends.

She calmed down, but she remained, unable to leave the safety she felt there. The nightmare had shaken her to the core, she had suffered bad dreams before too but never like this. Was it the wine perhaps that had caused it? Of course it was, she was an idiot, she shouldn't have been drinking at all. She wasn't used to the stuff damn it, and then the situation with that ellon and the prince and everything. It had to result in something nasty for sure. She shook her head, she was so silly, running away like a startled child just because of a bad dream, what if anyone had seen her? Oh then people here would have gotten something new to gossip about, how noldorin maidens would leave their rooms almost naked in the middle of the night. She was glad she hadn't been spotted by anyone.

Aeniel had woken up rather late in the morning, she was well rested and since she hadn't been drinking that much she was feeling good. She got up and got dressed and decided to visit Mariliel to check that she was fine and perhaps they could go to breakfast together. She liked Mariliel and was astonished by the open and warm nature of the young elleth when she forgot about the books and just enjoyed herself. Many of the other scholars had been mesmerized by her zeal and energy and Aeniel hoped that Mariliel would enjoy her stay there and not just spend her time with the library.

She walked up to the door to Mariliel's room and was stunned to find the door ajar, and the room was empty but the bed and the sheets were soaking wet and the smell of sweat and fear extremely pungent. Aeniel gasped and for a moment she felt a sort of panic, what had happened? And where was the young scholar? Aeniel took a deep breath, she walked down the stairs towards the vaults with a sense of not knowing what she would find and dreading it at the same time. Mariliel was asleep, slumped over a crate of books and ink had stained her nightgown and her fingers. She had started writing down the titles of books and her fatigue had overcome her.

Aeniel saw that the young elleth was covered with dust, her hair looked almost grey and the nightgown had tears in it. She was a mess and Aeniel reached out and touched her shoulder gently. Mariliel yelped and her eyes got into focus again, she had been drooling on the book her head had rested against and she let out a gasp of shock and regret and wiped it away with her sleeve. " Aeniel?! What are you doing here?!"

The healer raised an eyebrow. " I would like to ask you the same question. I went to see if you had eaten yet and your room was empty and you bed dripping with sweat."

Mariliel blushed and looked down, she realized that she looked terrible and squeaked. " I…I had a nightmare and went down here, just to…to forget about it"

Aeniel frowned. " A nightmare? That must have been a very bad one? You look like a wraith!"

Mariliel got up on shaky legs, her stomach was growling and she felt so silly. "Uh, yes, I woke up and I couldn't really breathe I think, I had to get out"

Aeniel cocked her head. " Do you have nightmares often?"

Mariliel let out a nervous laughter. " No, bad dreams sometimes but everybody has those right? I don't think I ever have had such a terrible dream, I guess I drank too much last night and when I went back to my room I…I was approached by a very…unpleasant ellon, I kneed him and the prince came and saw what I had done and I said something very stupid. I mean, it wasn't really stupid but I shouldn't have said it to a prince…"

Aeniel was a bit shocked by the flow of words but she got concerned too. " Unpleasant? Did he try to touch you inappropriately?"

Mariliel sent the healer a swift shadow of a smile. " Oh yes, if trying to get your hand down into somebodies dress is inappropriate he broke every rule for courteous behavior."

Aeniel sighed. " Damn it, you really have had some bad luck, you must think that all the ellyn here are randy brutes with just one thing on their minds"

Mariliel tried to get the tangles out of her hair with her fingers, she hadn't braided it before she went to bed and she knew that she looked terrible. " I guess that they aren't that much worse than the ellyn elsewhere, maybe just a little less…disciplined"

Aeniel had to grin. " Oh but there is discipline here, strict discipline. That is why they act so unruly when they are off duty, they need to blow off some steam. But dear friend, you must be famished and you cannot go to the dining hall looking like that. The others here will think that you are in the midst of some bizarre noldorin mourning ritual or something"

Mariliel frowned and for a moment she did look terribly young, like an elfling not yet come of age. " Ha? Mourning?"

Aeniel nodded. "The humans who live outside of the forest to the north east often cover themselves with ash or dust and wear torn clothes when they mourn somebody, it looks almost like you do now. And by the way, you stink so I think we need to get you to the baths right now!"

Mariliel went pale. " Uh, I don't think that I…"

Aeniel rolled her eyes. " Dear, don't worry. I will make sure that we are alone there."

Mariliel managed to smile, but it was a bit shaky. " Alright, I guess you are right, I do need a bath."

Aeniel grasped her by the hand and almost dragged her out before she found the strength to protest. They almost ran to the baths and Mariliel was relieved to see that the only people there were a few young ellith who sat in a group giggling and laughing. Aeniel got Mariliel out of the stinking gown and then she too stripped. Mariliel felt shy still, she didn't know why. Back at home she was used to bathe with other females and it had never bothered her a bit but now she felt awkward and stiff. Aeniel was strong, it was rather obvious and Mariliel bit her lower lip. " Do the females train as warriors too?"

Aeniel smiled and nodded. " Some do yes, I do sometimes join the troops when they are out protecting our realm so I must be able to take care of myself if we come under attack"

Mariliel swallowed, she had always wanted to learn how to fight but her protector had never allowed it. Elrond had always thought that it was a waste of time since Imladris was well guarded, and he was also a bit afraid that his protégé's fiery temper would get the better of her and cause dangerous situations. So he had in fact encouraged her interest in books and tried to avoid awakening her interest for fighting. " I bet you are excellent, I cannot even use a bow!"

Aeniel almost gaped. " You can't? Darn, everybody here learn to shoot as soon as they can hold a bow, that is in our blood."

Mariliel suddenly got an idea, she was as impulsive as ever when she turned around and stared at the healer. " Could you teach me? Please?"

Aeniel giggled and pointed towards the pool. " Get in and we can discuss that whilst soaking."

Mariliel obeyed eagerly and Aeniel smiled and leaned back against the edge of the pool. " I can teach you a little, but I have a strict schedule and not much time to spend on such activities. I think I can find somebody who are willing to give you some proper training."

Mariliel swallowed. " I cannot pay though"

Aeniel had to laugh at her somewhat disappointed expression. " That won't be needed dear, but you will need some proper clothing. You cannot train in a dress."

Mariliel looked shocked. " I have to wear pants?!"

Aeniel nodded solemnly. " Indeed you do."

Mariliel got a weird look in her eyes, they were shining and a shadow of a wry grin could be seen on her lips. " Oh Elrond would get a shock if he ever saw me in pants"

Aeniel just grasped Mariliels impressive mane and started pouring water into it, Mariliel enjoyed the sensation and relaxed visibly. The healer was shocked by the amount of dust her sweaty hair had managed to gather, the water looked like mud around them and she shook her head in disbelief. But standing there like that enabled her to get a really good view of the young elleth's physique. She was very well shaped and in fact among the most beautiful females the healer had ever seen, there was good strength in her arms and legs and Aeniel remembered that Mariliel had arrived on a horse that looked as if it was a real handful. " You do ride a lot?"

Mariliel nodded, she had closed her eyes since the sensation of Aeniel's strong hands on her head was very comforting and pleasant. " Yes, I love riding."

Aeniel could see that the elleth had strong legs and she did look rather athletic for somebody who didn't train as a warrior. " But that horse of yours looked very…ah…strong willed?"

Mariliel had to laugh. " Oh Erenion is like a kitten when I am around, he has never tried to throw me even once."

Aeniel finished rinsing the long red hair and added some soap to it. She had never seen anybody with hair just like that before, it was so thick. " Tell me, who did you inherit this marvelous mane from?"

Mariliel blushed. " I don't know, maybe one of my mother's forefathers? Nana was dark haired and so was ada too. I was the oddball of the family."

Aeniel tilted her head, massaged Mariliel's scalp carefully, odd, she could have sword the elleth had some sort of scar just above her left temple? " Did you have any siblings?"

Mariliel shook her head. " No, nana almost died when she had me so they didn't try to make more babies, but I had a lot of cousins and other relatives too."

Her voice sad as she remembered the village she had lived in and the happy carefree atmosphere, the sheer joy of being a child and a very loved one too. Elves would often spoil their offspring a lot and elflings were allowed to do pretty much whatever they wanted. " I am sorry if I brought forth bad memories"

Aeniel's voice was apologetic and Mariliel tried to smile. " It matters not, I have learned to live with the loss, it doesn't bother me that much anymore. It was a long time ago."

Aeniel nodded but she knew that the young elleth was trying to smooth things over, such loss is never forgotten, it stays with you pretty much forever and cannot be just swiped under the rug and forgotten. Perhaps the nightmare had been old memories that re-emerged due to the unusual situation she was in? It was far from impossible and Aeniel smiled at Mariliel and tried to look supportive. " But you still remember them right? Then they are not completely gone."

Mariliel shrugged. " I guess you are right, but as I said, it was a long time ago and I cannot remember that much, just…just a little."

Her voice became distant and her eyes glazed over, she looked almost asleep for a moment and Aeniel tilted her head and stared at the far away expression. " I bet those are precious memories."

Mariliel sent her a brief grin. " Maybe, who do you think would be willing to train me?"

The young elleth had changed the topic rather swiftly and in a manner that almost seemed impolite, Aeniel could understand that the loss she had suffered surely had been terrible and that it was very hard to even think about it but turning your back to your past completely like that is never a good idea.

" Oh I can think of several, but I have a friend who is training the elflings, he is very fond of teaching so I guess he would be thrilled to have another student."

Mariliel looked very eager. " Can you talk to him please? Soon?"

Aeniel grinned, Mariliel was charming when she looked like that, eyes shining and her expression that of a elfling who has been promised something nice. " I will try, I don't know if he is busy or not but I can most certainly arrange a meeting within the next few days. "

Mariliel almost jumped up and down with restless energy and Aeniel hurried to finish with her hair. " Oh I wish I could meet him today, but then again, I have so much work to do, the collection is so wonderful, so rare. I am so privileged to be allowed to catalog it."

Aeniel braided Mariliel's hair and smiled gently. " You have found something precious already?"

Mariliel was gesticulating and her eyes were shining. " Oh plenty, I have found a diary and I think it must have belonged to one of the most trusted counsellors of Elu Thingol and I have also found a very old book about the forging of metals. I have only heard rumors about it and thought it was just a tale, they say the dwarves wrote it and that it was Aüle himself who dictated it."

Aeniel got a bit fascinated, much against her own will. She had never wanted the type of life Mariliel obviously lived and enjoyed but the young elleths enthusiasm was contagious and so filled with joy. " I bet you will find plenty of more books down there even more valuable."

Mariliel was grinning from one ear to the other. " I bet I will, I am rather sure I will."

Aeniel tied her braid with a piece of string and patted her on her shoulder. " And now you look as lovely as ever, and more importantly you are clean too. It is time for some food."

Mariliel got out of the pool and her stomach growled, in fact she was famished and she almost threw her clothes on before the two rushed to the dining hall to have some food before they started the day.

Legolas had gone to his own chambers after he encountered that weird scholar, he had to grin to himself when he thought of her. Talk about having a bit of a temper! He liked that in females but not too much, that one was like a she-dragon with ten pups, but he had seen something else in her too. She had looked very vulnerable, frightened and shocked and he felt ashamed on behalf of his realm. She really had gotten into a unpleasant situation with that page and Legolas was sorry he hadn't followed his first idea and imprisoned the ellon. Acting like that was just shameful, even if the elf had been rather drunk. Legolas thought about her, she had looked amazing that evening and he had thought about approaching her several times but he had seen his ada sitting there and then he had chosen somebody else to talk to. He knew that Thranduil would get seriously pissed off if he defied his orders and made contact with the elleth but he wanted to, Eru how he wanted to.

She was different and he wanted to get to know her, to learn more about her. She appeared to be both temperamental and smart at the same time and something about her was awakening his interest. It wasn't just her good looks, all elves are beautiful, no, she was different. And to him that was like honey to a bee, he wanted to see if he could find the answers to the many questions he had regarding her.

He had gone to bed and slept well and as he got ready for the day he wondered if Mariliel had meant what she had said to him. She had been a bit rude and he ought to feel insulted by her lack of manners but he could honestly claim that he didn't. It did amuse him a bit that she was that adamant about being independent and he knew that she would have gotten a few nasty surprises if she had been a sylvan elleth, at least with that attitude. Here in the woods everybody depended upon each other, you couldn't stand alone because then you would most likely not make it. Life was hard there and dangerous and without somebody to watch your back you didn't last long.

Legolas had never really thought about the library, he of course had known that it was there, his teachers had often mentioned it but he had never seen it and he just knew that it was grand and that there were a huge number of books down there. Legolas didn't really care about reading and books, he had hated reading when he was a youth and his teachers had a hard time making him read anything at all but now he suddenly felt tempted to visit it. Of course just to check on her progress and to see that she was doing her job well, his father had ordered him to keep an eye on her hadn't he and to do that he had to meet her face to face. Yes, he would most certainly visit the library soon. He got into his best outfit and went to see if his father had any orders for him this day. He knew that his ada probably was in bed still, nursing his hang over and Legolas had to grin. Thranduil had an amazing ability to drink without getting visibly affected but he did pay the price the day after, and a heavy one too. Everybody knew that the royal healer had the unpleasant job of mixing some rather stinky medicine for the king whenever he had been drinking a bit too much of his beloved Dorwinion wine. Legolas didn't drink that much, he didn't like wine and tried to avoid it but Thranduil was almost addicted to the stuff.

Mariliel was as far from the archetype of a scholar as it was possible to come, Legolas wanted to know how that came to being, and how it was that she was such an amazing rider. And he wanted to know if she was able to have a normal conversation without snapping at somebody. She had fire in her that one, fire can be dangerous but he was always drawn to danger. Yes, he would check if she was as interesting as she seemed to be. He hoped that it would be an interesting experience.

Mariliel had a breakfast so huge Aeniel didn't believe her own eyes, the young elleth ate almost like a hobbit and had dreadful table manners when she got excited about something. She sort of forgot all about her surroundings and lived in the moment and she almost spilled a cup of scalding hot tea when she tried to explain to Aeniel a drawing she had seen in a book about the different methods one may use to drain a bog to turn it into good farm land. Aeniel found it a bit weird that she had gotten so consumed by her interest for books, it was as if she was shunning everything else, and Aeniel got curious to why.

They split apart after breakfast since Aeniel had work to do and Mariliel went to the library filled with new energy and fierce determination. She would do a great job and she was almost shaking when she started opening crates to sort the books and write down the titles and authors. She was sure she would find true treasures that day.

The crate she had opened the night before was waiting for her and before long she was immersed in it, it was amazing to think that her hands were the first to touch these books for centuries if not even longer and she felt a deep respect and reverence to these relics of the past. She spent the first half of the day going through that one crate since it was stuffed with books, you couldn't have fitted a single piece of paper into it since it was so full it was almost bursting and Mariliel was glad the wood used to build the crate was solid and hard, seeing books being harmed by moisture and vermin was almost heartbreaking to somebody like her. She went to lunch rather late and ate in a hurry, people seemed to have gotten used to her by now and nobody stared. It felt nice and she relaxed and enjoyed the food.

When she finished eating she visited the stable to check up on her horse, the huge black stallion was happily munching away at his hay flirting shamelessly with the mare on the opposite side of the stable corridor and Mariliel was glad to see that the horse did enjoy himself. She returned to the library and used a crowbar to open a new crate, this one was damaged, it had cracks in it but it seemed to be dry and she whistled a merry tune when she started removing books from it. She remembered all the times Elrond's sons tried to tease her or play pranks on her but they had stopped since she never really cared. It wasn't funny to prank her since she just ignored them.

Elrond had found it odd, normally she would go ballistic if somebody messed with her routine but she sort of made an exception when it came to those two. She regarded them as friends and knew that they did it just as a way to show their affection and so she accepted that she would find her sheets glued to her bed or her toothpaste replaced with dye. She was also aware of the fact that Elrond had sort of tried to encourage a relationship between her and Elrohir, the young ellon was a more relaxed and scholarly type than his brother and Elrond had thought that he and Mariliel would have been a nice match. But Mariliel wouldn't have any of that, she would just turn and leave if anybody started to show any interest that went beyond simple friendship and she knew that everybody in Imladris thought she was terribly pious or rather very prudish.

She of course knew that the twins were rather active when it came to the more amorous parts of life and she had lost count of how many partners they had had, she wasn't blind to what others were doing even when she pretended not to care. She just hoped that their behavior didn't lead to heartbreak, she liked them and wished them all the best for the future but she knew that Elrond sometimes was more than a wee bit shocked and horrified by their behavior.

She remembered a lot of funny and not so funny incidents fondly when she lifted a pair of books out of the crate and then she screamed. Hidden underneath the books was a huge centipede, the kind that usually lives in the woods and eat everything from rodents to small insects. It was the length of her lower arm and thick as her wrist and it immediately rushed out of the crate looking for a new dark and safe place to hide. Mariliel was shocked, and disgusted. She hated such large insects and she saw that the centipede had damaged quite a few books to make the nest. Something snapped in her, she grasped a broom that was left standing up against the wall and forgot all about her fear and disgust. She screamed as she chased the centipede and it felt like a rush of something ancient and primeval through her veins. She growled and managed to hit the lightning fast little beast so hard it stopped and curled up to protect itself.

Mariliel was just as terrified by her own actions as she was by the centipede, she jumped forth and landed on the huge insect with both heels at the same time. There was a crunching sound that was just disturbing and she continued to step on the body desperately until the insect was transformed to a pool of goo and gore on the stone floor. She stared down panting and shocked by the sudden rage she had felt. She often felt angry for some reason she wasn't able to explain but she had never killed anything before and she was suddenly a bit scared by the violence she had showed herself capable of using.

She let go of the broom and then she did notice that she wasn't alone anymore. She raised her eyes slowly, the prince stood in the door and he was tilting his head and looked a bit impressed. " I must admit that I never have seen anyone killing those things before by stomping on them, it was indeed most efficient."

Mariliel let out a startled yelp and she stood there like frozen, she hardly even blinked and Legolas was both fascinated and a bit worried about the blazing fury she had showed when she killed the insect. " You would do well on a battle field with that energy, the enemy would flee for their lives."

Mariliel tried to calm down, to return to her normal self. " I don't think orc's would allow anyone to trample them to death"

It was a rather dry statement and Legolas had to grin, she had a sense of humor. " No, they won't. "

She felt how the goo was clinging to her shoes and she made a grimace. " So, why are you here?"

She cut right to the core and didn't hesitate, it was something the prince was unused to and he cocked his head and tried to smile as gently as possible. " Your friend Aeniel had asked a friend of mine, Halaron, to train you. I just volunteered to tell you that he will start the day after tomorrow, just after breakfast."

Mariliel was suddenly glowing and her eyes huge with enthusiasm. " Oh wonderful, I cannot wait."

Legolas frowned. " You haven't trained self defense before?"

Mariliel shook her head and laughed, suddenly the centipede and the shock she had gotten didn't matter." Heck no, my protector wouldn't have liked it a bit. He thinks I have too much of a temper,"

Legolas scoffed. " Oh I see why, uh, I do understand."

Mariliel pushed her jaw forth. " Oh?"

Legolas stared at the scowl and threatening expression on her face, darn, she was cute like that. " I mean, it is obvious that you have…been blessed with a lot of energy"

Mariliel nodded and scraped goo of her boot with the lid of an opened crate. Legolas took a look at the room, Eru, it was full of crates and sacks and such. " How many books are we talking about here?"

He couldn't hide the awe he felt and she grinned widely. " Oh several thousand, maybe even a hundred. I didn't even know there were that many books written but I think there are some of which there are several copies down here."

Legolas took up a book, it was about the breeding of field mice for food, who the heck ate mice?! A midget? Mariliel snatched the book from his fingers. " Careful, that one is precious!"

Legolas felt a bit insulted. " I wasn't gonna damage it?"

She wiped some imaginary dirt of it with her skirt, she reminded him of a mother hen with her chicks. Perhaps she saw the books as her own offspring in a way? If that was the case it was very sad. " Was the centipede in one of the crates or something?"

Mariliel nodded and hissed, anger flaring in her eyes. " Yes, it had ruined some books too, look!"

She help up a small book where the thing had gnawed away a corner, Mariliel looked as if the centipede had desecrated a holy shrine or something. Legolas took the book carefully, not much text was gone but the paper was discolored and brittle and he sent her a soft smile. "I bet there are scribes who can make a copy of this book."

Mariliel almost growled. "But it was damaged damn it, damaged! It shouldn't have been treated thus!"

Legolas had to snigger. " Yes I get it, it is precious. Although, I can't say that I see the great value in a book called " The symptoms of constipation in edain and its treatment" It is something every village healer would know everything about"

Mariliel rolled her eyes. " Yes, the information within it is common knowledge but the book is old, think of the one who wrote it, it could be somebody forgotten by the world and yet his or hers words live on through this book"

Legolas raised an eyebrow and saw the passion within her eyes, he sort of understood it when she explained it like this. " Well, when you put it that way"

Mariliel groaned. " But there was a centipede in that crate, it makes me dread what I may find in the other sacks and crates."

Legolas tried to come up with a good idea, and then he just burst forth with a suggestion he immediately regretted, his ada would give him such a scalding when he heard of this. " I can help you check the crates which have holes in them? And the sacks too? Just so you won't have any more nasty surprises?"

Mariliel suddenly smiled, a wide smile that made her shine and Legolas felt his heart sort of flutter within his chest. Darn, it was as if the sun itself had entered the room. " You can? Oh thank you , I fear finding mice, I hate them"

Legolas grinned. " More than you hate centipedes? I find that hard to believe!"

Mariliel shivered. " Oh but I do, it is something about their tails, it just gives me the shivers, brrrr"

Legolas tilted his head, saw the small grin on her face and knew that she was serious and yet trying to act as if it was all a joke. " I do think mice are rather cute but then again, I have no problem with centipedes. "

Mariliel stared at the sad remains that stained the floor. " I do, but I solved it."

Legolas walked over to some crates and checked them for damage. " No doubt about that, a permanent solution. Now, let us see what we may find here."

Mariliel helped him checking the crates and they found quite a few that were damaged with missing boards or holes. They put them in a corner and started opening them and before long they did indeed encounter some vermin. One crate had mites, they hadn't damaged the books themselves but they had eaten the glue that bound the sheets to the binding. Mariliel was swearing so bad Legolas felt deeply shocked.

The next thing they encountered was not one, not two but five centipede hiding in a crate that had suffered water damage, the books were transformed into a block of paper mush and Mariliel cried when Legolas had killed the centipede with his knives. Legolas started to fear that she was a bit too sensitive, carrying her heart on the outside and not being able to hide her emotions at all. She was the direct opposite of his father who could hide his feelings extremely well. It was charming in a way but it left her very vulnerable to say the least.

Mariliel was almost heartbroken because of the ruined books and it didn't get any better when they discovered that the mice had indeed lived a very happy life within many crates and sacks. The damage was extensive and Legolas felt sorry for her. The despair she felt was real and heart felt and he realized that this to her was her greatest and possibly only passion.

He didn't dare to touch her but he tried to offer her some comfort by ensuring her that he would make sure that he would do whatever he could to make sure that at least some of the books were copied and saved.

Mariliel just sat down on a crate, her eyes distant and sad and he wondered how anybody could switch their mood so fast, from ecstatic to terrified to sad within moments. He surely couldn't. He sighed, " Please, don't think about it, there are so many crates here which are unharmed. Look? Hundreds of them. I bet there are some amazing books in them, unharmed books. "

Mariliel got to her feet rather sluggishly, it was as if the ruined books somehow had extinguished some of her energy and it was not a nice sight. He felt desperate, he had to bring the joy back in her bright eyes. " Look, this crate has a royal seal on it, it has to be important right?"

Mariliel spun around as if she had been stung with a needle. "What? Oh, marvelous, it has to be something special. Open it!"

She was suddenly jumping up and down with eager energy and he thought she did remind him of an elfling who has found something very exciting. He opened the crate and frowned. It was many books and on top of them lay a cracked parchment with some neat Tengwar. " Only for adults"

Mariliel looked confused and Legolas felt even more confused. What was this? Mariliel lifted a dusty book and opened it, she immediately gasped and closed it with a bang. Legolas frowned. " What is it?"

She gasped for air. " Oh, Eru, this…this is…pornography!"

Legolas had to snort. " What?!"

He grasped another book and opened it, it was not thick but rather large and it contained drawings, erotic drawings. He stared at a very realistic gouache painting of a couple and the elleth was riding the ellon facing his feet, the angle such that one could see everything that was going on. He gasped and then he had to laugh. " Oh, I bet these books have been popular, and I think you should find a nice spot for them in the new library, Preferably a dark and private corner."

Mariliel looked confused. " Why? These books are old and I think they must be extremely valuable but shouldn't they be kept somewhere with good light? The colors are amazing!"

She felt her cheeks burn, it was more than the colors that were amazing, she wasn't without knowledge about certain carnal activities but she had never seen anything like that. It made her feel both embarrassed and a bit bothered and also weird, in a whole new way. Legolas laughed. " I think the ones who wants to read these would prefer not to be seen."

Mariliel cocked her head. " I do not understand? These are valuable examples of ancient culture and artwork?"

Legolas couldn't believe it, was she really that innocent? He sighed. " Mariliel, these are erotic books, erotic! I bet you can understand what they may do to the ones reading them? It isn't just the lovely artwork they will admire but also the images themselves."

He turned the page and showed her another image, a couple doing it doggy style and the expressions of pleasure and bliss on the faces very visible even after so many years. " Oh Eru!"

Mariliel squeaked. " Don't tell me that people will…oh Eru!"

Legolas sniggered again, he felt a bit naughty standing there with a very attractive elleth having this sort of book in his hands. " Most certainly, I am sure there are some books of that type also in Elrond's library?"

Mariliel's face got a bit blank and she tilted her head. " I saw one of the servants once, when I was much younger. He was reading a book and…uh, he had a hand inside of his pants, and it was moving"

Legolas grinned again, she was blushing and her eyes flickered, she really was a bit innocent. " There you see."

Mariliel took a deep breath. " Then these books need to be protected, they are too frail for that sort of treatment, what if somebody…spills something onto them?"

The way she said something told Legolas she knew what she was speaking about. "Then you will have a lot of pages that will be stuck together. "

Mariliel felt how even her ears were blushing and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the illustrations. They were so lifelike and she felt that weird fluttering sensation within her stomach growing stronger, and it sort of crept downwards. Legolas flipped the page, the next illustration was even more graphic and showed a naked ellon who was kneeling in front of a naked elleth, his head down between her legs while he stroked himself. "Darn, the artist was a good one, it is very well done."

Mariliel heard the admiration within the young prince's voice and she wondered if he felt anything at all seeing such a graphic image. Apparently it didn't affect him at all but she felt stranger by the minute, her heartbeat was getting faster and she had gotten aware of him in a whole new way. She could smell him and his scent was tantalizing, like a forest in the morning, newly awakened and bursting with life. She could see how his silky hair almost caressed his strong neck and shoulders and for a second she felt envious, she wanted to touch his skin and see if it was as soft and warm as it looked.

She shook her head, no, she shouldn't feel this, damn her, it wasn't…it wasn't right. She felt as if something dangerous was approaching her, hidden within the shadows and she tried to fight the sensation with all her might. Legolas did notice that she looked less than happy and she was in some discomfort, that was easy to see. It was a bit interesting to see how she would react so he continued opening new pages and revealing new and very erotic images. " Hmm, I wonder how long anybody can endure that?"

He pointed at an illustration Mariliel almost didn't dare to look at, it was two bodies entangled in a way that made even him confused. Mariliel just squeaked, her cheeks burning red and her eyes pleading. " Alright, this book is rather interesting, but what about this one?"

He picked up a smaller thicker book and frowned. It was hand written and the sketches within it nowhere near as exquisite as those in the large book but not a bit less explicit. It fact it was even worse and the pages littered with obscene phrases and what had to be a sort of list over names and how they had performed. This person had most certainly been enjoying himself and the number of names was long. He sat down and Mariliel stared at the book. " Is that some sort of diary?"

He nodded. " A diary of somebody's sexual encounters no doubt, darn, this one got laid more often than a bunny in a field of flowers."

Mariliel got fascinated against her will, the book was probably something very private so why it had ended up there was beyond her guess. Legolas suddenly froze, he stared at a sketch that was both well done and very graphic but the position shown was strange. Next to the image somebody had written with bold letters " This position is impossible, I tried it thrice and all I got was an aching back and aching balls"

Mariliel frowned, the prince had gotten pale and he closed the book slowly, his hands shaking slightly. "What?"

Legolas moaned. " I recognize the handwriting used in this book, damn it"

Mariliel blinked and felt confused. " You do? But…"

Legolas hid his face within his hands, he didn't know if he should feel amused or ashamed or proud. Most of all he felt bothered though, the images in his mind, oh Eru he needed to get drunk, very drunk. " It is my grandfather's handwriting, all of it. It was my grandfather's diary! I have seen his handwriting on official documents and there is no mistaking it"

Mariliel put a hand in front of her mouth not to release a laughter that was a bit hysterical. "Are you kidding me? Your grandfather wrote that!"

Legolas sighed. " Apparently he did, oh Morgoth's stinking breath, this cannot be put out on display, Ada will die of shame"

Mariliel giggled. " I guess nobody wants to think about what they parents are doing in the bedroom. You can take it, I will not put it into the inventory at all."

Legolas got onto his feet. " Mariliel, I am forever in your debt, that is so kind of you"

She blushed and giggled and Legolas acted on pure impulse. He leaned forth and kissed her, a quick kiss that was more of a peck than a real kiss but Mariliel's response was sudden and violent. She pushed him away with such force he almost toppled over, eyes ablaze with something he could only describe as wild fear and she almost growled. " Don't touch me!"

Legolas regained his balance, he felt hurt but also confused and shocked. Nobody had dared to just push him like that but she was obviously terrified and the worst thing was that she looked just as confused as him. She was frightened of him and didn't even know why. " I am sorry, please forgive me."

He managed to keep his voice calm when he most of all wanted to shake her and scream at her to make her tell him why she acted so weird. She was shaking, those lovely eyes still wide open and the maelstrom of emotions within them almost painful to watch. " I…it is okay, I am sorry too…I shouldn't have pushed you…forgive me. I…"

Legolas tried to grasp her hand, to offer her some comfort but she pulled it away, abruptly. " I meant it, don't touch me! Just…just go, please."

The prince stared at her, he could hear her heartbeat, it was fast and hard and she had for a few moments before he tried to kiss her smelled of slight arousal, now it was gone, replaced by the distinct smell of complete fear. What was wrong with this elleth? " I will take my leave then, and let you continue your work"

His voice was colder than he had wished for but he still felt a bit stunned by her rejection and it had hurt his feelings. He just wanted to express his gratitude and she reacted as if he was trying to kill her or something. Then be it, she was way too complicated to be worth the effort, interesting yes, but so was the spiders that were trying to invade their forest. It didn't mean that he wanted to spend time with them, and he sighed and resigned himself to keeping an eye on her as his father had told him too and nothing more than that, He knew when a battle was lost, there is no point in whipping a dead horse. He did a swift bow and left the room, feeling a bit sad and also disappointed for some unknown reason. At least they could have become good friends.

Mariliel stared at the broad back that disappeared through the door, she felt tears stinging her eyes. She didn't really know why she had done it, for Eru's sake, he had just given her a swift peck to express his gratitude and she had almost injured him? What was wrong with her? She sat down, slowly. Her lips tingled where he had touched them and she whimpered and took a look around herself, the library was well lit and there were nothing there except from the sacks and crates and yet she felt as if something was out there, staring at her, hunting her, wanting to harm her. If she let anyone touch her it would, she was sure of it, it would show itself in all its horror and she couldn't let that happen. No, she had to stay down there, and not tempt fate again. It was safe, it was all she could ever want.

She took the book with the illustrations and tossed it into a crate, rather hard and without her usual respect. It wouldn't tempt her again, never. So why did she feel as if she had lost something valuable, something precious? She wiped her eyes and got back to work, it was better not to think about it, yes, much better.


	4. Truth, dreams and disappointment

Chapter four : Truths, dreams and disappointment.

Elrond was staring out at the garden, he had a half written letter in front of him and he was contemplating the way it ought to be written. He had no idea of how to continue and sighed and put his quill down. Two guards had been killed in a small battle against some orcs and he had to inform their families of their deaths. It was his duty as the leader and one he hated above all else. Both had been young and inexperienced and they had attacked an enemy way too strong for them, luckily they were the only casualties but two were two too many.

He bit his lower lip, felt sad and blue and more than that, worried. He missed Mariliel, her strange ways had always managed to get his mood back onto its right track and he just hoped that she enjoyed her stay in Mirkwood. But there was a nagging fear eating at his mind all the time, he had told the king some small white lies regarding her skills, and he regretted it now. He just wanted her to be happy, and if he had told the king the truth, that he hadn't allowed her any sort of training he was afraid the king would have chosen someone else. Mariliel needed someone special in her life, someone to act like an anchor when she got too caught up with her ideas and mood swings.

He smiled fondly thinking of her and stared at the parchment, damn this, he could continue later on, he wasn't in the mood to explain how the two young warriors, barely come of age, had lain down their lives in brave defense of their realm. He was about to get up and leave when there was a knock at the door and Erestor entered. His tall slender frame made him look almost fragile but Elrond knew that Erestor was rather robust, they had fought together during the last alliance and Erestor was fierce if he needed to be. " My lord, we have visitors"

Elrond cocked his head, frowned. " Visitors? Who?"

Erestor smiled. " Gildor and his men, so tonight I bet there will be a lot of partying, laughter and tall tales told."

Elrond suddenly felt excited, Gildor Inglorion and his group of travelling elves always brought with them news and exiting stories and all sorts of entertainment and since autumn had come it was clear that they would stay for the winter. He smiled. " That is wonderful Erestor, I trust that you have informed the servants and the kitchen and everybody?"

Erestor nodded. " Yes my lord, they will be ready. There is one ellon though, who wants to talk with you."

Elrond cocked his head, feeling a bit confused. " Oh? Who may I ask?"

Erestor sat down, his deep dark robes glittered in the sunlight, he was very fond of dark robes with strands of silver or gold thread woven into the pattern. " He says his name is Alwed, he has been living with Cirdan's folks for almost a millennia. But he is related to Mariliel."

Elrond jerked, as if he had gotten stung by something. " Really?! Send him over, I wish to meet him"

Erestor nodded and left, Elrond swallowed hard. A relative of Mariliel? Who could that be? She had been the sole survivor of that massacre and they hadn't managed to find any of her kin anywhere. It didn't last long before there was a soft knock on the door and Elrond shouted enter, a bit louder than he had planned for. The door opened and a rather short ellon entered, he wore rather worn out clothes and he was dirty but he had a sort of dignity about him that told Elrond he was an elf with both wisdom and influence.

" I am Elrond, lord of this valley. I am very pleased to meet you, Alwed was it?"

The ellon nodded and Elrond saw a rather nasty scar across his face just underneath his left eye, there were several more on his neck and he looked ragged and tough. " Indeed it is, allow me to introduce myself, I am the brother of Astor."

Elrond blinked, the brother of Mariliel's father? That was shocking news, he had never heard that Astor had a brother but then again, he hadn't had that much contact with that village before it was attacked. " I see, pardon me but I haven't heard about you?"

Alwed sighed and sat down, he looked tired. " No wonder, my brother and I never saw eye to eye, it is a long story involving an elleth so it is in the past but he never forgave me. We drifted apart and I chose to become a ship builder, have lived by the coast ever since. But I heard that my brother was dead and I hitched along with Gildor and his group when they came by this spring."

Elrond swallowed. " I am sorry for your loss Alwed, your brother was a fine ellon."

Alwed sighed and stretched his legs, he was thin and his eyes a bit dull. " Aye, that he was, a good ellon and a good husband too. I miss him a lot. They told me his daughter lives here?"

Elrond smiled. " Yes, Mariliel, she is our joy and a major headache at the same time, very feisty young thing. Right now she is in Mirkwood, helping me with an inventory of a huge old library. She loves books you see."

Alwed nodded. " She must have that from her mother then, Astor didn't like reading, he didn't need to. He thought that it was a waste of time. Tell me more of her, I haven't met her, I was gone long before she was born and I haven't had the opportunity to travel until now."

Elrond looked at the ellon and saw the deep grief in his eyes. " Why not if I may ask?"

Alwed sighed. " My wife got injured just two years before Astor's village was attacked, it was a shark. She was out swimming and it took a huge chunk out of her hip and thigh. She survived but got bedridden ever since and I couldn't leave her behind. Last winter I finally managed to get her onto a ship heading west, she had refused like mad but her resistance waned at last."

Elrond swallowed. " That is terrible, it must have been very hard on you?"

Alwed nodded. " It was, but she will heal whence she has settled down in Aman, I will follow her as soon as I can but I wanted to know more of my brother and his family first."

Elrond stood up, found a couple of goblets and poured some rich red wine into them. " Here, you look as if you need it."

Alwed thanked and tossed the wine back, he was obviously used to less heady stuff for he turned slightly red and coughed but managed to stay relatively calm. " My niece was a headache you said?"

Elrond nodded, and smiled too, a wide and soft smile. " Yes, she is head strong and stubborn and has some insane mood swings but we all love our red headed little fireball."

Alwed sighed and closed his eyes. " Red head, that is unusual, it was inherited then."

Elrond tilted his head. " Inherited? I do not understand?"

Alwed put his goblet down with a bang. " It is something nobody spoke off, but I knew my law sister pretty well, she confided in me and told me things about her family she didn't want anyone else to know. Her great grandmother was red headed, and not without reason."

Elrond looked at the ellon, he was slowly getting a very weird suspicion. " Uh, do explain?"

Alwed sighed and stared down at the floor. " The father of that elleth was a noldo lord Elrond, and not just any noldo, one of the cursed ones. A son of Fëanor."

Elrond gasped. " What? Is that true? But…"

Alwed sent him a swift smile. " I know, it is hard to believe but it is the truth. Mariliel's great grandmother was the daughter of one of the twins, she was base born, a bastard. Her mother fled east and joined the wood elves near the misty mountains and the rest is history I suppose."

Elrond felt dizzy, so Mariliel was a very distant relation of his foster fathers? That was quite a shock. " Oh Eru, that explains her fiery temper I guess."

Alwed nodded. " It is a family trait, Indriel was dark of hair and at times even darker of mind, she could explode but she was fiercely protective of her little one."

Elrond tried to smile but he still felt shocked. He had thought that Mariliel was just an ordinary elf, with some noldorin blood, not a distant descendant of the finwions. Darn, they were in fact related! " I can understand that, any mother would do that."

Alwed crossed his legs, leaned back. " The reason I wanted to talk with you was that I got a letter from Indriel just a few months prior to the attack. Mariliel had started to act very strange and they didn't understand. She wanted to ask Cirdan if there was any room available on the next ship to set sail."

Elrond leaned forward. " What? What do you mean acting strange?"

Alwed sighed and made a grimace. " She was gone for two days, they were looking for her everywhere and they feared that the child was taken by orcs. But she was found near the village, apparently unharmed but very scared and unable to remember anything. And from that day on she was scared of the dark, scared of strangers, scared of almost everything."

Elrond got a sinking feeling in his gut. She had acted thus also after they found her but he had assumed that it was a result of the attack, had she witnessed something terrible before the massacre? Something he had failed to see? "Did you law sister say anything more?"

Alwed stared at his boots. " Only that she had seen faint bruises on the child, as if someone had tied her up. And she had terrible nightmares, screaming about somebody who wanted to kill them all, and a stranger with kind eyes and an ugly man. They never managed to get anything more out of her."

Elrond blinked, he felt like a fool, like an utter moron who had failed to notice that the child had problems that were much deeper than he had thought they were. " Tell me, did anyone else know of this, were there anyone in that village or kin perhaps of the villagers who may remember it?"

He knew that some villagers had left for the safety of a bigger settlements just a couple of weeks before the attack. Alwed tilted his head. " Indriel wrote that the village healer had checked the kid, she didn't live there but in the village near the river. I think her name was Ereliel or something like that?"

Elrond let out a sigh of relief. That elleth was still alive, she worked as a midwife in the village and he hadn't met her but everybody said she was very skilled and very dedicated to her work. " Oh yes, she is still around. I think I will send for her, maybe she can tell me more. This needs to be looked into."

Alwed smiled. " But she is doing alright now isn't she? Being a scholar and all?"

Elrond nodded. " Yes, she is very clever. Well, I sent her to Mirkwood as a part of a plan actually, the king wants to find a wife for his son and she would be a good candidate."

Alwed just gaped. " Are you serious? My niece the prince's wife? That would be the day…"

Elrond looked a bit sheepish. " Now, we don't know if they like each other yet, it has to be a secret you see. Thranduil believes in using reversed psychology when dealing with his son."

Alwed laughed and had to gasp for air a few times. " A clever father indeed, forbidden fruit is always the tastiest one. But they ought to match yes? If she is such a fiery one, I have heard that the prince is a warrior. He will like a feisty elleth for sure."

Elrond made a sheepish grin. " Oh, I think so but I told Thranduil some tiny lies about her, I said she was a good fighter with both bow and sword and that is not so. But if I had said otherwise he would have chosen someone else, at least that is what I fear."

Alwed frowned. "She isn't skilled?"

Elrond shook his head vigorously. " Heck no, I have never allowed her to train, she has less self control than an exploding volcano, I didn't want to risk the lives of my trainers."

Alwed snickered. " That sounds like Indriel's daughter yes, but my law sister was a champion with her bow, and with blades? Oh Eru, she was like a swirling wind of death."

Elrond got a rather unpleasant mental image of Mariliel trying to fight with twin knives in the style of the silvan warriors. It could get ugly, very ugly. " Well, I trust that they will teach her everything she needs to know, the silvan elves are tough, they ought to be able to deal with someone like her."

He crossed his fingers and Alwed just snickered once more. " Not as tough as she is, that I am sure of. If she is anything like her mother the ellyn will stand in line for a kiss but receive a boot to their groin instead. I have no idea why she chose my brother but I suppose he was the one ellon who didn't try to flirt and that pissed her off so much she didn't want to let him get away with it."

Elrond laughed. "Then I do for sure know where her stubborn streak comes from, now, let us go to the great hall for some food, there will be a feast there tonight. I will send for that midwife, I am eager to hear if she has something more to tell me."

Alwed got up and bowed. " And I thank you for your time my lord, I know it is precious to you."

Elrond patted Alwed on the back. " Not as precious as family Alwed, I thank you whole heartedly for the information you have brought me"

Alwed just bowed his head and Elrond almost dragged him along to the great hall. His mood had gotten a lot better but his worries had grown deeper and stronger than before. What had happened to Mariliel back so many years ago?

Mariliel had barely left the library at all since her encounter with the prince, she had left only to eat and to sleep and Aeniel had gotten worried about her. There was some sort of desperation within her eyes that made the healers instincts kick to life. Mariliel immersed herself in work and Aeniel had a suspicion that it was all because of something she preferred not to think about. Aeniel had encountered such ideas before, but swiping the dirt underneath the carpet didn't make it go away, it just became less visible and would re-emerge and often at very inappropriate times. There had to be a way to reach that elleth and make her tell Aeniel what it was that was troubling her.

Mariliel did show up for her first training session with Halaron, she had gotten some clothes from Aeniel and was proud of the fact that she now wore leggings and a tunic instead of a huge heavy dress. Halaron was a typical silvan, his hair a soft brown color and his eyes hazel, he wore the typical guard uniform and he was younger than Mariliel had anticipated, or at least, he appeared to be rather young. He was waiting at the practice area with some bows and several quivers and Mariliel felt that her enthusiasm returned. This was going to be great, she would finally learn how to defend herself properly.

Halaron had his doubts, he stared at the tall redhead with narrow eyes and he just knew that she would be trouble. The way she moved told him she had no previous training and she appeared to be painfully naïve too. At least when it came to this sort of training. She bowed her head and Halaron introduced himself, at least she showed him respect and he liked that. Mariliel had never thought that there was that much she had to think about, Halaron told her how to stand, how to straighten her back, how to watch out for the wind and everything and she hadn't even touched the bow yet.

This would not be done in a few days, that was for bloody certain and she tried to pay attention to his continuous attempts at teaching her the basics. Then he picked up a bow used by the elflings when they first were learning archery, it was not very long, very light and you didn't have to be very strong to be able to pull it. He showed her how to grasp it and where to put her hands and then Mariliel got a blunt headed arrow and tried to shoot.

The result was spectacular, Halaron hadn't believed that it was possible to fire an arrow backwards before and she hit her own arm with the string and cursed so bad he was afraid the roof of the nearby hut where they kept their training equipment would catch fire! " I told you young lady, you need to bend your wrist a bit, and let the arrow rest against your hand, do not try to hang on to it."

She pouted. " I tried!"

Halaron scoffed. " Try to pull the bow once more, without an arrow, let me see how far you can get the string."

She tried and her hands and arms started shaking violently almost immediately. It was way harder than she had thought it could be and she felt ashamed of herself. She had all of her strength in her legs since she was riding that much. Halaron shook his head in disbelief. "Eru's mercy, you are as weak as a kitten, have you ever done anything except sitting with your nose buried in some book?!"

Mariliel felt that familiar anger surge up from within but she kept it under control, she couldn't afford to piss off her own teacher. She just clenched her teeth together and Halaron sighed and threw her some odd looking balls with a handle on them. " These are heavy?"

He nodded. " That is the point, from now on you train with these two times each day until you are able to pull a real bow, you are way too weak."

Mariliel felt her cheeks turn red, but she knew that he was right. She wasn't used to physical labor at all, it was not asked from in Imladris. " I understand."

Her voice was meek and Halaron crossed his arms and stared at her. " I will make sure that you get some leather to make a glove and something to protect your wrist. And do not forget to train every day. There is no use in even letting you try to fire a bow before you have the strength needed. Right now you are more of a danger to yourself than to the enemy."

She sighed and he must have seen that she felt rather stupid for he sent her a swift smile. "Worry not, you have rather good shoulders and long arms too, you will become a good archer, after some years of training"

Mariliel almost rolled her eyes, some years! But she knew he was right, the expert archers of these woods had practiced since they were elflings. No wonder why they could hit just about anything they aimed for seemingly without even taking aim. It was frustrating,

She returned to the library and sat down with her work once more, she had to go through that crate with the darn erotic books and write down the titles for later and she was grumbling to herself as she quickly worked through the heap of books. Most of them were in fact collections of poems and songs of a more indecent character but there were also some novels and one book in particular caught her eye. It was dark red in color with beautiful vines made in gold covering it and it didn't have a title. Mariliel opened it, the name of the author wasn't written down anywhere but the title was simply Heartsong. It seemed to be a sort of mixture of letters, a diary and somebody telling the story and she saw that the one writing it had used a very unusual technique that made the letters look almost like something organic and natural. She put the book aside and continued working, it had made her curious.

She then trained with those strange metal orbs until her arms were shaking and she remembered having seen one of the female guards pull a bow that was as thick as her arm in the middle, she suddenly felt like some goddamn failure. But she wasn't going to give up that easily, no way! She took a swift bath before she went to bed and then she read a little from the book she had found. She didn't know why it had been put in that crate, it wasn't at all what she would have thought it was. Clearly this was a collection of personal notes and thoughts and that person had to have been someone in power who greatly desired someone who was way beyond him when it came to status. It was rather sweet and also a bit tragic and she did read quite a bit before she got too tired and had to go to sleep.

Legolas had been preparing his group for another patrol that day, they were going to head south seeking to eradicate some spider's nests and he was looking forward to it. It was better than staying there, he felt as if his father kept him under constant surveillance and it was a bit annoying to say the least. He often felt as if he was being choked by his father's controlling personality, he was no elfling and he was among the best warriors there were but then again, he was the kings only heir and he supposed that his father was worried about him.

He went to the dining hall to have something to eat and some of his friends were there already, cheering and laughing and sharing some gossip and some wine. Halaron was there too, he was obviously telling the others of his encounter with Mariliel and he was rather enthusiastic about it. " I have to tell you, I have never seen an elleth who is capable of shooting herself, but that noldo almost did. And her lack of strength was appaling, I think a ten years old elfling would be stronger than her, and by Eru, she ought to be told never to wear leggings cause damn!"

Legolas felt a weird sensation within his chest, he hadn't thought about Mariliel at all since he left the library but now something akin to anger started to brew within him. " What do you mean by that?"

His voice was rather brusque and the other jolted and sat up straight. Halaron lifted an eyebrow. " Oh come on, you must have seen her? Red hair, tall, creamy skin? And leggings? I have never seen an ass like that on an elleth, it is pure perfection I tell you, pure perfection, like a peach"

Legolas grasped onto the table so hard his knuckles went white, he felt his throat constricting. " Halaron, you are talking about a lady here, Lord Elrond's protégé. I will not hear you talk about her in such a manner again, understood?"

Halaron looked shocked, but then there was a sly smirk appearing on his face. " Oh, I see, you have met her! Perhaps you would prefer to keep her to yourself? She has some rather impressive…qualities"

Legolas didn't know why he didn't pull his knives and stabbed Halaron there and then but he just sent the archer a rather cold glance before he got up and left. " That may be, but I will not have our reputation slandered by such lewd and disgusting behavior, have I made myself clear?"

Halaron just sniggered and the other warriors present did too, Legolas felt his ears burn as he quickly excited the hall, he needed fresh air and time to think, Mariliel wasn't worth the trouble, he had realized that but he still felt a bit protective for some reason and that made him confused. Why? Yes, she was drop dead gorgeous but so damn unpredictable, and almost volatile. He didn't want to think about her again, they could call her whatever they wanted, it was none of his business, but a small voice within his head still told him that he cared.

He walked towards his own chambers when he saw that the door to his father's rooms opened and the king appeared, dressed in silver and dark grey and looking very regal indeed. He was apparently in a good mood and Legolas bowed his head in a swift greeting. " Ada."

Thranduil smiled and tilted his head. " Ion nin, you look flustered, is anything wrong?"

Legolas cringed, oh no, his father couldn't know of this, he would probably misunderstand it completely and then all hell would break loose. " No, nothing is wrong ada, I just overheard the warriors, they were a bit rude considering that scholar. They have poor manners I fear."

Thranduil's eyes got more narrow. " Indeed, well, I hope they won't interfere with her work, I need it done so I can send her back home. I trust that you have kept an eye on her? No weird questions, no unusual behavior?"

Legolas cringed and tried to smile. " Uh no ada, she spends her time in the library, and I think that is where such creatures belong too"

Thranduil frowned. " What do you mean by that?"

Legolas could have smacked himself, he had almost done it this time. " Uh, I mean that she is a bookworm, probably very boring too, and unable to protect herself."

Thranduil was thinking fast, what was this? He had to find out more. " Yes, you are probably right, a good thing she stays down there, it would be too bad if some of our warriors got interested in her, imagine that, a noldo!"

He said it with all the disgust he could muster and saw that Legolas got a bit pale, then his ears turned red. Aha, there was something there, but he couldn't ask more questions without it becoming suspicious. He just walked on, pretended to be completely relaxed. " So, what do you think of tomorrows mission? Will it be a success?"

Legolas let out a small sigh of relief, he had gone against his father's order when he visited the library and he prayed he would never know of it. " Yes, I think so, I have the best warriors and we will bring as many weapons as we can and burn every nest we find."

Thranduil patted him on his shoulder. " Good son, I am very pleased to hear that."

Legolas bowed and went his own way and Thranduil remained standing, his cerulean eyes distant and his expression thoughtful. Legolas had met her, he was dead sure, and he knew his son better than Legolas would have thought was possible. Besides, he had ears and eyes everywhere and a servant had told him the prince spent quite some time down in the library but when he came back he looked almost angry, or rather disappointed. Had they come to blows? He knew that Mariliel had the kind of personality that best could be compared with a porcupine, one wrong move and it was sharp quills sticking out in every direction. Darn, he had to be certain, and he had to come up with a plan if Legolas had lost his interest in her, if he ever had one.

He turned around on his heel and almost ran to his office. There he sent one of his servants out to fetch a certain someone and before long the ellon returned with one of his son's warriors in tow. The young ellon was a handsome fellow with long dark blond hair and soft blue eyes and Thranduil did know that Legolas was very competitive, he didn't like to lose and he didn't back away from a challenge either. Thranduil smiled and the warrior looked nervous, he kept his eyes on the floor and was moving restlessly, with obvious nervousness. "My lord?"

Thranduil stared at the ellon. " You are loyal are you not Feren? And a good friend of my son?"

Feren nodded, he was confused and had no idea of what this meant. " Yes, I am your humble servant my liege"

Thranduil got up, grinned widely. " Good, I will give you a special mission Feren, one you have to keep as a secret. Nobody is to know of this, nobody! Do you get it?"

Feren nodded, his face revealed a good mixture of curiousness and nervousness. " Yes my lord?"

Thranduil got a little closer to the young warrior, he lowered his voice. " You have my son's trust, and I know he does confide in you rather often. Now, there is this a task I want you to do for me. An elleth arrived from Imladris some days ago, she is a noldo and very exotic, I am sure you know who I talk of?"

Feren blushed. " Yes my lord, all the ellyn know who that is, she is…uh…"

Thranduil nodded. " I know what you mean, she does catch the eye now doesn't she?"

Feren swallowed and his eyes were rather huge. " Uh, and you doesn't like her?"

The words were almost whispered and Thranduil was a bit uncertain, he didn't know how much of his plan he could reveal to Feren, after all he was young and the young elves could easily be tricked to tell more than they ought to. " That is not the problem Feren, the thing is that I know my son spent some time with her, in the library. I want to know if he…well, you know, has taken a liking to her."

Feren bit his lower lip. " My lord, if I may be so bold, it isn't smart to intervene in matters of the heart, it usually backfires."

Thranduil just smiled. " I know, and I do not intend to intervene, I just want to know for sure if my son feels anything for this elleth. I have started to worry about him, you know, he is spending a lot of time around other males and he is never seen with females at all."

Thranduil did of course know that Legolas had had some affairs, rather many in fact, but Legolas didn't know that he knew, and neither did anyone else. Feren went beet red, he knew that Legolas was rather amorous and that he was as far from being gay as anyone can be. " Uh my lord, I…I do not think your son favors males, I would have known, I mean…"

His voice died down and he stared at the wall rather sheepishly. " That is great Feren, now, just do what I ask of you, see if you can get some information out of him."

Feren sighed, Thranduil was really meddling with stuff he should keep that pretty nose of his out of but he was the king and it was natural that he was trying to keep an eye on his only child. " I will my lord, trust me on this"

Thranduil petted his back. " Good, very good, try to ask questions without arising any suspicion. "

Feren felt bad, stretched between his loyalty to his friend and the loyalty to his king. He groaned and bowed and Thranduil dismissed him. Feren stopped in the corridor, now, how was he to do this? He had to find the perfect moment and gather the information very carefully indeed. Truth be told he had gotten curious too, Legolas hadn't said anything about having met that elleth and that was unusual considering how strange she was. Maybe the king was right after all? That there was something going on there? In that case Feren wasn't the one to get in the way, he hoped that Legolas would find his one true love soon and find peace and happiness.

Yes, this needed investigation, he grinned as he wandered off, he knew what the other ellyn said about that elleth, that she was feisty and downright dangerous and that sounded like just the right elleth for his friend. Legolas would never be happy with the ordinary dull ellith of the court, they spent their time discussing fashion, embroidery and other boring feminine ways to pass time. That Imladris vixen could perhaps be just what Legolas needed.

Mariliel was working hard the next days, she barely ever met anyone and she drowned her own uncertainty with work but her thoughts never stopped haunting her. She had dreamed again, a memory this time, of her childhood. She remembered her mother, sparring against some ellon she didn't remember now, and it had been an amazing sight. Her hair had been shining and she had smiled and laughed as they danced across the grass, blades flashing in the sun and Mariliel could hear the sound of metal hitting metal and the feet against the sand. She had been in awe of her mother that day, and she remember being hugged, being lifted while a soft voice assured her that she one day would be just as good at this as nana was. It had never occurred to her that her parents had been fighters, that they had been able to defend themselves. She had sort of forgotten, pushed those memories back until they were too deeply hidden for her to find.

Now she started remembering also other things, the great feast they held in the summer when there was a huge pyre lit and everybody was dancing around. She remembered her parents joking and flirting, her father chasing her mother through the woods, both laughing. She knew that she never really had mourned them, she had been in a state of shock, of absolute denial. Elrond had said that she had switched herself off, that she almost suffered from a sort of amnesia and refused to remember and he hadn't really tried to force her into remembering her past. She had woken up sobbing and when she got back to work that morning she felt miserable. She missed Imladris, and she missed her friends there too.

Not that she had that many but she regarded Elrond as a friend, and Erestor and the twins and even Arwen even though she was way too preoccupied with pretty gowns and gossip. She did also have a few other friends but they weren't close, and she started to realize that she in truth was rather lonely.

When had that happened? She didn't really know and she was thinking hard about that as she went through crate after crate with books. She had never been a very trustful child, Elrond said it was because of what had happened to her family but she had a sneaking suspicion that something else had triggered it. She had a vague memory of laying in bed, listening to her mother speaking with some elleth Mariliel didn't really know. She heard their voices, muffled and distant and she knew that her nana was worried about something, that something bad had happened but she couldn't remember and why was she hurting?

Mariliel swore and tossed some books into an open crate, she was getting more and more confused. It had to be the unfamiliar surroundings, they were triggering her memory in a new and slightly disturbing way. She tried to subdue them by working until her head hurt and she fell asleep at night like a log had hit her. Aeniel had showed up on a few occasions but Mariliel didn't have time to speak to her, she ignored the healer and didn't notice the weird glint in the elleth's eyes, nor did she see the frown on her brow.

Aeniel was rather certain that something was off by now, Mariliel was working herself to a point where she was in a frenzy. Something had changed when she came to the palace but what? What could have triggered it? Aeniel was a very clever elleth, she knew that Mariliel had suffered a huge trauma when her family and friends got murdered, Elrond had most certainly tried to heal her and patch her broken mind back together again but now everything seemed to fall apart in their seams, Mariliel looked scared most of the time, as if there were monsters hiding in every shadow and Aeniel was thinking about it a lot. Then it hit her like lightening and she realized what a fool she had been. Elrond was of course the key, or rather, his ring. The power of his ring kept Imladris safe, it protected its borders and it sort of stopped time, prevented decay and change. It had of course also protected Mariliel from the full impact of what had happened to her, but now she was beyond the power of that ring and she was starting to remember again.

Aeniel swore to herself as she ran to the healing ward, she knew she had to do something. Elrond could not have known that he involuntarily had put Mariliel in a very difficult situation when he sent her away. He probably had no idea of the fact that his ring of power had shielded her all these years. She sat down by her desk and wrote a letter to the famous healer and then she ran to the one in charge of the palace hawks and asked him to please send a peregrine for Imladris right away. The ellon looked confused but took the letter and promised that the bird would arrive within a few days, he would send his swiftest bird. Aeniel had a sense of foreboding, of having started to unravel something terrible. Why she didn't know but she just prayed that Mariliel would be ok, she liked the young elleth and would hate to see her hurt.

Mariliel did barely dare to sleep, she would dream every night and even though most of her dreams were pleasant memories of a childhood filled with love and joy there was something behind those memories, something dark lurking around the edges of her mind like a hungry predator searching for a prey, never resting and always on the prowl. She feared it, and she didn't know why but there was a voice in the darkness, hoarse and twisted, whispering terrible things she couldn't hear but she knew that the voice was bad, that it was evil, that it didn't want nothing but her suffering and death.

Then one night she had a totally different kind of dream. She had taken a long hot bath before she went to bed and she had even taken a glass of wine. She had worked way into the night and felt so tired she knew she wouldn't be able to find some rest without help and so she had determined that a glass of wine was a good idea. She had been reading a little in the book and she had come to the conclusion that the writer was in love with someone of the same gender, there had been some rather steamy confessions of fantasies that made her shake her head and she felt that this person was very sad and melancholic, trapped within a society that didn't allow such feelings to flourish at all.

She did pity the unknown writer but the poems in the book were beautiful, even the more explicit ones. She had fallen asleep and when she started dreaming she was back in the library but she wasn't alone. Legolas was there and they were looking in that illustrated book again but suddenly the books were gone and they were in a room of some sorts but she didn't recognize it. It was dark and warm and suddenly they were on a bed with soft satin sheets and she felt his warm silky skin against her own and felt strong calloused hands sliding over her body, worshiping her, making her skin feel as if it was on fire. In the background someone was reading one of the poems out loud in a beautiful and yet rather sad voice and she was close to tears.

She felt so safe, so cherished and his hands, oh Eru, they felt so good. They were touching her like none ever had and he was kissing her, teasing her, creating a warmth within her that soon became a firestorm, a blazing inferno and that soft voice was everywhere, speaking words of endless affection and love. " Oh should the number of days of this earth outnumber the stars by Elbereth kindled, I would still yearn for more days spent with my love. And should the world and the song itself crumble, be forgotten and gone, I will not mourn as long as I know that thine heart is mine, as mine is yours. My love for thee will last a thousand ages, and a thousand ages is yet not enough."

Mariliel had never thought that anyone could express their affection thus, so poetically and yet with such certainty and she suddenly yearned for something like that, that absolute feeling of truth. She felt his hands caressing her body and yet she didn't really see him, but she knew he was there and she was writhing, whimpering for more, for that burning need to be slaked. He was light, he was safety, and she remembered the drawings and something in her begged her to give in. She saw herself and him, their bodies close, so close, like in those images, as one. She shuddered and gasped as she felt him touch her gently where her thighs met and she arched and yelled and woke up, moaning his name as the most insane sensation she had ever felt rushed through her. She had to gasp for air, eyes wide open and her heart hammering like mad, she had pulled her covers up between her legs, and that was what she had felt and there was a huge wet patch on the blanket.

Mariliel didn't know what to think or feel or anything, she felt utterly confused and excited and ashamed and everything at the same time. Oh Eru, didn't she have any shame at all? She had dreamed of the prince in a completely scandalous manner and it had been…It had been wonderful! She knew what it was that had happened, she had only heard others describe orgasms but she just knew that she had had one, her first. She could smell her own musky scent and slowly she reached down, touched her self. She was wet, and slick and over sensitive and she yelped and pulled her hand back, stared at the wetness on her fingers. So this was how it felt?

She giggled and felt silly, almost giddy. She felt as light as a feather and yet heavy like lead and she covered her face with her hands, enjoying that relaxed feeling.

Soon she felt cold and got herself another blanket from the closet, tried to return to her sleep but she found that she couldn't. The good feeling slowly disappeared to be replaced by a deep sense of fear, something was staring at her, with angry eyes, eyes filled with disgust. She heard a voice coming from nowhere, distant and rusty. " Do not think you are worthy of him, don't you know what you are? A dirty little whore, a wanton bitch. I know what you all want, I can see it in you, temptress!"

She whimpered, pulled the blanket over her head and tried to block the voice out but it was still there, whispering obscene words in an almost cooing manner. When the sound at last disappeared she was covered in sweat and shivering all over, hysteria beginning to kick in. Before long she lay in a fetal position, bawling like a child, clinging onto her pillow as if it was a lifebelt and she was drowning. At the end she simply passed out, knocked out cold by her overflow of emotions.

Legolas was staring at the burning spiders nest, he felt rather satisfied with the work the group of warriors had done. They had burned at least fifty nests and killed a couple hundred spiders. This was the last one on their route, they would return this very evening and he was sure they this time would be allowed to enjoy more than just a week of rest before their next mission. The spiders were getting larger and bolder and he had to admit it, a heck of a lot harder to kill and he was glad none had gotten themselves injured. Some of the spiders looked rather different from the ones they had been used too, they were more aggressive and bold and they seemed almost intelligent and that was a frightening thought.

Feren was standing beside him, still breathing hard after the fight and wiping goo of his sword, he was grinning like mad and Legolas recognized the battle fever in his friends gaze. It was a thrill he too felt when he was done fighting and knew he had survived one more time. You never felt more alive than you did in such times and he was looking forward to returning to good food, hot baths and fun. Feren grinned and got his sword back in his sheath, shook the long hair out of his eyes. " Oh finally, I cannot wait to get drunk and to be honest, to get laid!"

Legolas snorted. " Oh, really? You have some willing maiden waiting for you back home?"

Feren nodded. " Oh yes, that little short one who often helps the cook? With the dark hair and the generous bosom?"

Legolas knew which elleth he spoke of, she was rather unusual among ellith since she had a chest that was more like that of a chesty adeneth and most of the ellyn forgot how to think when she came sauntering by, serving at the tables. And she knew how to use it for all it was worth! " I…I know who you mean yes."

Feren nudged him in the side with a conspiratorially wink. " And her boobs are not the best part of her, I can tell you that, she can clench like a vice that one."

Legolas chuckled. " I have heard rumors yes."

Feren smiled. " Are there no pretty thing waiting for you to return?"

Legolas felt how his mood suddenly turned one hundred and eighty degrees and headed for the cellar. " No, there aren't!"

He was almost snapping at Feren who backed off and stared at the prince with huge eyes. "Whoa mellon, I am not some orc! Damn it, have you slept on a rock or something? Do not bite my head off, please!"

Legolas cringed. " Oh I am sorry Feren, I really am, it is just that…Oh it is complicated!"

Feren sighed and signaled for Legolas to sit down next to him. " Right, spill it, tell me what it is that is bothering you?"

Legolas took a deep breath, braced himself. " It is this elleth okay, the scholar from Imladris?"

Feren tilted his head. "Let me see, tall, redhead, a chest worthy of a dairy cow and a derriere that could make even a dead man hard? Yep, I know who you speak of then!"

Legolas almost growled, hearing her described like that ticked him off and he didn't know why, or did he? " Right, the problem is…I tried to speak to her, and we had a nice time, I mean, she was great, funny, different and smart and I thought that we had something going right? And then she just…she turned all hostile."

Feren frowned. " What do you mean hostile? Did you try to grope at her or anything?"

Legolas scoffed. " What do you take me for, some savage? Of course not, I merely tried to give her a small kiss as a token of gratitude and she pushed me away and went all hysterical. I have never seen an elleth acting like that! Apparently you cannot touch her without risking life and limb"

Feren was a bit shocked. " That sounds rather strange, maybe she has gotten scared by someone and has trust issues?"

Legolas just shrugged. " Maybe, but I have decided that she isn't what I hoped she was, she is not my type after all. Who wants to be with an elleth who snaps at you if you try to steal a small kiss? I appreciate my elfhood far too much to risk its safety thank you very much, she is the type likely to geld you if she feels like it"

Feren had to snicker. " Sounds like a she dragon if you ask me, but she is gorgeous isn't she?"

Legolas sighed and felt sad, almost hollow in a funny way, she was obviously not interested in him so why did her rejection still hurt so much? Why did it leave him with such an aching sensation of having overlooked something crucial? He sent Feren a sad grin and patted him on his shoulder. " It matters not, in a few months time she will have finished her work here and return home, at least ada will be pleased, he doesn't like to have noldor in our palace, he thinks she is a spy!"

Feren almost burst into laughter. " Legolas, you father may be the king of this realm but he is also the king of paranoia, imagine, Lord Elrond sending spies. That will be the day orcs start growing pigs tails."

Legolas had to giggle. " I bet I saw one with a pig tail once so don't be too certain now"

Feren wiped some tears off his cheeks. " Oh Eru, the mental image, I won't get rid of that until the breaking of Arda for sure"

Legolas got up and shouted some orders. " I am glad somebody has someone to return to, worry not Feren, I will be ok. I was just…I am not used to being rejected damn it."

Feren sent him a wide grin. " My prince, there is a first time for everything. Finally some elleth have come along with enough sense to see the real you , not just the pretty face but your immaturity, recklessness and not to forget your endless conquests. I bet she is the smartest elleth in this realm."

Legolas lifted a hand in a mock threat. " Feren, one more word and I will feed you to the spiders!"

Feren jumped out of Legolas reach and giggled. " Oh no, have mercy my lord, the poor critters will surely die from indigestion"

The other warriors stared with confusion and wonder at their commander and his captain, both lay on the ground writhing and laughing so hard they had problems catching their breath. The relief of having survived a battle could do that to you so they just ignored the howls of wild laughter and continued their work, surely it couldn't be that funny.


	5. What the mind cannot see

Chapter five: What the mind cannot see…

Elrond had been busy the last days, the company of Gildor had been large this time and the partying had as it was rather common lead to some minor injuries and some not so minor ones. An ellon had gotten his leg broken when he was trying to show the others how he was capable of balancing on the roof of one of the tallest buildings of Imladris and he had fallen down. Another one had gone riding while being drunk and had been thrown of the horse and into a ditch with some serious head injuries as a result. And then there were the usual hangovers and upset stomachs, he sighed and shook his head as he continued mixing medicine. The company would make Imladris a very lively place for the winter and it was appreciated but sometimes he did also value the peaceful days too.

There were elflings running around causing a lot of mayhem and he had to smile when he remembered all the pranks his son's had created when they were that age, the innocence of childhood was such a blessing really. He was almost done crushing some garlic to add to one of the ointments when one of the other healers entered the room. It was an ellon who had served there since Imladris was founded and Elrond had great respect for him even though he could be a bit too stern sometimes. He bowed his head and looked a bit confused. " My lord, there is an elleth here, she claims that you have sent for her? She looks a bit…uncouth!"

Elrond put the piston down and felt a surge of excitement but also nervousness rush through him. He smiled. " Let her inn, I have waited for her."

The other healer looked as if he had his doubts but he nodded and left the room, the door opened again and a rather tall elleth appeared. She was very avarin in appearance, her hair braided into hundreds of tiny braids and she wore strange jewelry made from bones and pretty rocks. She wore a deerskin dress and high boots and Elrond knew she was more of shaman really than a healer, but he respected that. She cocked her head, the dark brown eyes were very direct and her gaze strong. She wasn't the type of a person who backs off from a challenge and he appreciated that. " You sent for me?"

Elrond gestured for her to sit and found a glass and poured some wine into it. " Yes, I did. I had a visitor here some time ago, a relative of a protégé of mine, a young elleth who now is in the realm of king Thranduil, trying to make an inventory of an old library. The relative told me something rather disturbing and he remembered that the girl's mother had been in contact with you."

Ereliel cocked her head, her eyes revealed that she was getting curious. " Who may I ask? I have met many ellith both as a healer and as a private person, I need a name."

Elrond took a deep breath. " Do you remember a child by the name of Mariliel? And her mother Indriel?"

Ereliel gasped and stared at Elrond with huge eyes. " Mariliel is alive? I thought everybody from that village had perished?"

Elrond shook his head. " No, the child survived, she had hid underneath the floor of her parent's home but was of course severely traumatized afterwards. I spent a lot of time trying to heal her mind, she was really a mess."

Ereliel just stared at him with huge eyes. " I remember Mariliel well my lord, her mother sent for me. She had been gone for days and when they found her she was terrified and in distress. Her mother wanted me to check her over and I did."

Elrond leaned forth, his heart beating faster and he felt how his hands had become clammy. "What did you find?"

Ereliel stared at the tall noldo with narrow eyes. " My lord, it isn't as much what I found as what I didn't find!"

Elrond paused for a second. "What do you mean?"

The shaman made a grimace. " I couldn't find her memories my lord, it was as if someone had taken away the last days from her mind, or rather shielded them so she couldn't remember anymore."

Elrond felt truly shocked. " Who would have done that? Who is capable of such a deed?"

Ereliel stared him straight in the eye. "None of the eldar my lord, we may manipulate others and create false memories but we cannot just take things away, and I felt a presence when I touched the child. The presence of an Istari. "

Elrond frowned. "What?! But…."

Ereliel stared at Elrond again, her gaze calm but there was darkness in her beautiful eyes. "Mariliel ought to be dead Elrond, she had been mortally wounded but someone had healed her, brought her back from the doorstep of the halls, I could see the scars on her fëa since I am used to walking also the world of the shadows. I never told her mother since it would upset her greatly but I think the child was taken by someone really evil and twisted and saved in the last second by someone very powerful."

Elrond swallowed hard, that explained a lot and yet it created new questions. " Why would one of the Istari bother with a small child? There are not many of them"

Ereliel nodded. " You are right, they are few so there is really only two candidates. Mithrandir and Aiwendil and I know Mithrandir was visiting Cirdan at the time of Mariliel's disappearance. It could only have been Aiwendil then."

Elrond nodded. " He has a soft heart for everything small and defenseless, it would be very typical of him to interfere if he saw that someone was in danger."

Ereliel smiled, a sad smile. " Yes, and he was seen not far from the village just days later. But the girl was injured my lord, far worse than anyone could have guessed just by looking at her."

Elrond bit his lower lip. " Why do you think she was taken? Or did she get lost perhaps and met with the wrong people? What was done to her?"

Ereliel stared at the floor, her eyes dark. " I am not sure what happened to her, but I have my suspicions. There were no injuries to be found but I think she had been healed, and healed well too. The bruises and smaller cuts indicated that someone indeed had taken her and held her captive and there is only one reason for such behavior my lord and I think you know that too,"

Elrond swallowed hard. " Eru no, but…no elf would ever do something like that to a child?"

Ereliel smiled, a very hard smile that didn't reach her eyes at all. " Who said anything about an elf? There was a small group of edain travelling through the valley at the time of the girl's disappearance, and we all know the edain sometimes find the eldar irresistible."

Elrond had turned pale, he hadn't even considered that something of that severity could have happened to the girl before the attack and to think that she somehow had been hurt was awful. He ought to have sensed that in her but if someone with powers like Aiwendil had fixed her it would have hidden it and hidden it well. Even for the girl herself.

He stared at the shaman. " But she ought to be alright now? I mean, she cannot remember whatever it was that happened to her? She has never mentioned anything except the attack and I have done whatever I can to make sure she has become a strong and healthy elleth."

Ereliel stared at the lord with dark eyes. " I do not know, the mind can sometimes play tricks on us, tricks we cannot anticipate. If the worst thing did happen to her and she remembers, well, then she is most likely to fade. A child could perhaps survive due to its innocence but not a grown elleth, not one who understands the nature of such violation."

Elrond got a sense of dread, he suddenly feared that Mariliel would encounter problems, problems that would interfere with the plans they had laid regarding her future. What if she suddenly remembered? Oh Eru, he had to find out what it really was that had happened to her back then. Had she been just abducted to be used as a hostage or had someone taken her to satisfy dark lusts? He clenched his teeth together. He had to find Aiwendil and fast. Ereliel tilted her head, there was wisdom in her eyes but also silent warnings. " I am old Elrond, and experienced. The child was touched by something beyond us, something greater. It may strengthen her or it may break her, I do not know. Be careful, I fear that her sanity may be a fragile thing"

Elrond nodded. " I am thinking that way too, she has a lot of hidden baggage and I am a fool for not having understood that until now"

Ereliel got up, her long hair dancing around her shoulders, there was great strength in her, and an ageless wisdom that made Elrond feel young again. " You couldn't have seen it, not if it was hidden. But make haste, I know you know what to do!"

Elrond sent her a pale smile. " I do, and I thank you for your time Ereliel, I really do appreciate this."

She shrugged. " It was so little, do whatever you can for her Elrond, I remember her as a very sad child. I wish for her to have a great future"

Elrond took her hand to bid her farewell. "So do we all."

Ereliel left and he sat down for a few moments, feeling deeply worried. Elven memory is perfect, an elf never forgets anything. That Mariliel couldn't remember those two days even when she apparently had been mortally wounded told him that Aiwendil had done something rather drastic to her, he needed to know exactly what for he had a sense of foreboding, of imminent danger. He got up and rang a bell, a servant came sprinting and he asked the ellon to go fetch Glorfindel. The tall balrog slayer entered the room a few minutes later and he had obviously been in the stable for his leggings were full of horse hairs and he was a bit disheveled. He stared at Elrond and did notice the distant look within his lord's eyes. " What is the matter?"

Elrond sighed, he made a grimace. " I have done a mistake, one with potentially lethal outcome. I need you to do me a favor, a great one!"

Glorfindel got confused. " A mistake? I have never known you to make mistakes?"

Elrond put his head in his hands, felt tired, very tired. " Oh but I have, many times and now I think I may have made the blunder of this millennia."

Glorfindel frowned. " I beg your pardon? "

Elrond tried to straighten himself up, to look calm but he failed miserably. " I have sent Mariliel into danger Glorfindel, she may have terrible memories hidden within her mind and if they re-emerge she may fade or worse. I have been an idiot who didn't see that there is a pattern to her somewhat bizarre behavior but I just couldn't think that…Oh Eru"

He stared at the captain with a pleading look upon his face. " You must go find Aiwendil, now! He saved her from whatever it was that had happened to her, I need to know exactly what it was and what he did."

Glorfindel had always been fond of Mariliel, she was such a unique young elleth and he hated the idea of her getting herself into trouble. " I will go right away, they can handle without me for a while. "

Elrond smiled. " Bless you my friend. Ride hard and do not rest until you have found him, I fear that something is going to happen, something terrible. "

Just as he got up again to send Glorfindel on his way there was a soft knock on the door and an ellon entered carrying a bird on his arm. He held a piece of parchment in his hand. " My lord, this arrived now, from Thranduil's palace. It is one of the healers there who has written it."

Elrond felt his stomach drop and he saw that his hand was shaking as he took the parchment from the hands of the ellon. He stared at it as if it was a poisonous snake before he with some mental effort lifted it and read the words written in elegant tengwar. He felt how his insides turned cold and he immediately knew that this healer, Aeniel was right. The power of Vilya had protected Mariliel from her own past but now she was beyond its reach and the walls were crumbling down. He turned to Glorfindel. "The situation is dire, ride and when you find Aiwendil bring him to her, I think he is the key. And for mercy's sake, send me a message so I will know the truth of it all."

Glorfindel nodded, he too had gotten very worried for Elrond didn't usually react thus. "I will have my best horse saddled right away."

Elrond squeezed Glorfindel's hands. " Then ride with all of my hopes and blessings, may the valar lead your way."

Glorfindel sighed and nodded. " I will find him Elrond, doubt me not"

The healer felt dizzy and light headed, it was simply too much. " I trust you my friend, now, go!"

Glorfindel ran out the door and Elrond closed his eyes, silently praying that they wouldn't be too late. Just on an impulse he sat down and wrote a short note about what he had discovered and sent it with Glorfindel, to be delivered to the healer.

Thranduil felt frustrated, he had gotten the report from Feren when the warriors returned and it had made him confused and also a bit angry. Elrond had never mentioned that she could turn hostile in such a manner? And he now knew that Elrond had lied about her skills with weapons too, but that mattered little. If she was to become the wife of his son she wouldn't have to fight, she would be protected well enough. It was clear that Legolas had liked her at first, that he had found her attractive and interesting and that was great but then things had changed. She had apparently gotten rather defensive and aggressive and Legolas had lost whatever interest he had had.

Thranduil clenched his teeth together, he sort of sensed that she probably was far from as docile as the ordinary ellith and he had seen that too when he saw her the first time but why would she act thus when someone tried to touch her? Could she have seen something when she lost her parents? It wasn't uncommon for orcs to rape their victims, that could have seriously spooked her. But Legolas was a very gentle ellon, he had lots of wisdom too and would probably make her trust him soon enough. So what was he to do? He stared at the painting on the wall in front of him, it was the portrait of his father and he sometimes wished that he still had had his father by his side. Oropher had been more than a little mad some would claim but he was also a very good judge of character and he had been able to see things from unusual angles and find solutions others wouldn't see.

Thranduil made a grimace, he knew his son well and he knew that Legolas was very competitive. He hated to lose and wanted to excel in everything he did, it was a family trait. What if he suddenly faced competition? Thranduil grinned, a slow grin which made his eyes sparkle. Yes, he would hate to see a prize snatched away from underneath his nose. That was it, if someone else started to woo Mariliel Legolas would most likely react. And then he had to make sure that his son really got attracted to her and he had a small plan already. It would be interesting to see how this would develop. He had just the right candidate too, the son of one of his counsellors. Young, sweet and a bit shy and very interested in written lore. He was sure he could borrow the young ellon for a few days, his father wouldn't mind if Thranduil told him of the plan. He hated involving more people in his little scheme but now he had to. There was no way around it.

He put his goblet down and found some parchment, wrote a quick letter informing of his request. The good thing about being a king was that nobody would dare to protest against his ideas. Right now that came in rather handy. He sealed the letter and got a servant to deliver it, he sat down in an armchair and stared at the flames. Somehow he just knew that Mariliel was right for his son, he just had to make them realize that fact without being too obvious. But this ought to work just fine. He was crossing his fingers and smiled, sometimes a king needs to be sly and play things a little dirty. But in love and war all is fair now isn't it?

Mariliel had barely been seen for days, she had showed up to eat but she had sort of stayed in the background all the time and she didn't speak to someone. The servants who did her laundry and changed her bedding did tell of a very haunted look and eyes that were dark with some sort of fear and confusion too. Something was clearly wrong and Aeniel knew that she had been right, Mariliel was suffering. But she refused to speak to Aeniel even when she tried to approach her as gently as possible and she couldn't force the elleth to tell her what the problem was. She just hoped that her letter had reached lord Elrond, Mariliel was working herself to death or so it seemed for she had lost weight and she appeared to be scared of her own shadow. Aeniel was praying that something would happen, and soon.

Mariliel couldn't remember having felt that bad before, it was as if every shadow hid something terrible , something that wanted to hurt her. But she was unable to see what it was and she felt hunted. She cringed whenever she felt eyes upon her and at night she was haunted by nightmares she didn't remember when she woke up screaming. And that darkness hiding in the shadows crept closer and closer and she was sure she could hear it sometimes, a voice whispering terrible things to her. Only when she was in the stable taking care of her horse did she feel safe, somehow the terrible things couldn't reach her when she was with the great black stallion. She spent quite some time with him now, it was her refuge and the animal seemed to understand her distress. She had fallen asleep laying on top of the horse quite a few times and that was the only times she really slept well.

She was busy moving crates when someone entered the library, it was a rather young ellon who wore rather nice robes and he looked a bit nervous. Mariliel stared at him, she had for some reason started to feel threatened by every male who dared come close to her and it was causing her both confusion and fear. This on the other hand was no threat, he was so young he was barely mature and he still looked like a youth. She would describe him as sweet and innocent and the dark blue eyes were staring at the floors. " My lady, I…Uhm…"

Mariliel's self-confidence returned, he was just so shy and uncertain. "Yes young one, spit it out?"

The young ellon made a grimace. " Ah, I am Alaron, son of counsellor Dranon. My father sent me here to look for a lost book?"

Mariliel got interested right away. " A lost book? What type of book?"

Alaron was blushing like a beet, he didn't dare to look at her at all and that sort of triggered Mariliel's maternal instincts. "One written by his grandfather, early in the days of Doriath. It is a collection of avarin lore and very precious. My ada want's it back cause it is such a valuable memory of times long gone"

Mariliel frowned, that was not what she had expected but she didn't know that counsellor and some people tend to be sentimental. " Do you know how it looks?"

Alaron nodded. " Yes, it is black and rather large but not very thick and it has cirth runes written on the back."

Mariliel sighed " Oh Eru, that describes half the books in here, so I suggest we get to work now!"

They started going through crates and Alaron started to relax a little and revealed that he had a very nice sense of humor and he was both polite and sweet, just not used to female company. Mariliel felt safe with him, he was too well behaved to do anything funny and he obviously was quite taken with her already. He seemed to devour every word she said like it was holy gospel and his eyes was glued to her face the whole time. Mariliel had of course seen this before, it was just puppy love and very innocent and she sort of liked his company. She forgot about the shadows haunting her tormented mind when she worked with him and he made her join him for dinner. Mariliel was actually very hungry, she hadn't noticed before but the young elf's carefree and open attitude made her forget about her misery. She had even laughed when he told some very silly old jokes and everybody in the dining hall did notice that she sat where she could be seen and that she ate with good appetite and dared to look at her surroundings and not just her bowl.

And so Alaron began to visit the library every day, helping her with the work and she started to feel a lot better. He made her forget about her fears and she focused on the books again and the work sped up. Being two meant that she could do twice as much as before and her pride made her work the entire day still. Alaron was funny and he was obedient too and easy going and Mariliel did enjoy the company a lot. But he was clearly developing quite a crush on her and she didn't like that, not a bit. She would return to Imladris when she was done with the work and she told him that too. He looked rather distraught then and sad and she felt sorry for him but she didn't share his feelings at all. He was like a little brother to her and the very idea of staying there because of him was just ridiculous.

But others had noticed that Mariliel did spend quite a lot of time with the young ellon and whispers were starting to spread among the population. And the prince heard them too and he saw that Alaron sat by Mariliel during the meals and saw them smile and laugh at each other. He shouldn't mind but he did, it felt as if someone was stabbing him square in the chest and he started to leave the dining hall when they arrived. He couldn't bare to see them together and he had no idea what she saw in that runt of an ellon? Alaron wasn't in any way ugly but he wasn't even an adult yet, he had a lot of growing left and he was no warrior.

Legolas felt angry with himself, she had insulted him damn it, and acted like some mad thing but some voice in the back of his head told him that he shouldn't care about that. She was so different, so unique! Alaron was probably too young to be regarded as anything but harmless and if she had some sort of issue with adult males then he ought to be patient enough to get to the bottom of it and perhaps help her overcome it too? The idea was tempting but also scary. If he did something wrong she would most certainly hate him forever. Was she worth it? He had no idea!

Then one late evening the prince staggered towards the private bath he and his father used, he was exhausted and his head was spinning like mad. Halaron had told of his last practice session with Mariliel, she was getting stronger but there was something almost ominous in her eyes at times and she still couldn't hit a barn if she stood right in the middle of it. Halaron felt that there was so much suppressed rage inside of that elleth and he feared what would happen when it became unleashed. Legolas felt disturbed by his friend's words and he tried to think of something else. His father had forced him to join a very long and boring meeting about the maintenance of the palace and its sewer system, some privies had gotten clogged and it had caused quite some problems with smell. Legolas had to grin, the edain sometimes believed that the eldar didn't have the same bodily functions as the edain but they did and privies do stink if clogged, no matter who it is who are using them.

But the meeting had almost bored him to tears and he had been out training the entire day and was so sore and stiff since one of the captains had gotten injured and he had to lead the training of that ellon's troops as well as his own. He was in a terrible mood and it didn't get any better when there were servants by the baths telling him they were fixing a leaking pipe, he would have to go to the public bath. Legolas was fuming as he turned around and went to the larger bath everybody was free to use. It was very late so he expected to be alone and that was what he wanted after all but the water wasn't as warm as in the royal baths and sometimes it got dirty too.

He was alone, thank Eru for that. He got undressed and to his relief he saw that one of the hot pools were ready to be used. They were small ponds the size of a large bathtub carved into the very floor of the cave with screens around them and they were reserved for those who needed really hot baths. He did now, and he deserved it too.

He got undressed and found some towels, got into the pool and let out a sigh of relief. The water was very hot indeed and it helped him relax and before long he just laid there with his head on the edge and floated. It felt heavenly, the stress and tension left his muscles and he started to feel as if he was about to fall asleep. He ought to get back out again before that happened, it wouldn't feel nice at all to wake up in cold water. He was about to lift himself out of the water when he heard footsteps and he slid back in, a bit shocked that someone else would bathe this late. He stayed down and saw that someone entered the booths, got undressed and approached the large pool. The screen did almost reach the floor, there was perhaps a two inch gap between the bottom of the canvas and the rock and so he saw only a pair of legs. There was a hole in the screen not far from where he was and some weird impulse made him push himself closer to it to take a peek at who this was. He almost gasped, it was Mariliel!

She stood there by the edge of the pool buck naked and undid her braids and she was stunning. Pale moonlight fell from a hole in the roof and it made her skin shine as if it was made from mithril and her hair was like a river of gold and blood in that light. He realized he had problems breathing, he had never seen anything so beautiful, so haunting. Now he knew what Beren had felt when he first encountered Luthien. He trembled in reverence of this perfection. She was thinner than before but still she had curves that were generous and elegant and he felt his mouth go dry and his heart was beating fast and he knew he was some pervert doing this but he couldn't help it. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her, it was like watching a goddess.

He forced himself to be completely still, to just watch and worship and she was so worthy of just that, more than anyone he had ever seen. Her tall figure shone in the pale light and he was taking it all in with huge eyes, her elegant neck, the gracious curve of her back, the angle of her hips, her long shapely legs. She finished with her hair and unleashed it and it was like silk in the moonshine. What wouldn't he have given to be able to touch that, to touch her?

He had problems controlling his breath, to keep still. It was torture watching her like this, and yet he couldn't free himself from this haunting sight.

She turned around and his eyes got glued to her generous bosom and then they slid downwards, got fixed onto the area where her thighs met. He felt the urge to moan, he was harder than he could remember ever having been and it hurt. She picked up a cloth and started rubbing herself, humming softly and her eyes were closed as she removed dust and grime from her skin before entering the pool. It was such a sensual sight, as if she imagined the cloth to be the hands of a lover and he was suffering.

Without even thinking he was pressing himself against the smooth surface of the pool wall, his eyes never left her even when he felt that he had started rubbing himself against the warm rock. He couldn't stop himself, it was simply too much, she was too tempting and he felt ashamed of himself, so ashamed, but he was caught by a desire that burned like wildfire in his veins. Mariliel turned around again, washed the cloth and bent down to wash her feet and since she was facing away from him he saw her perfect rear and sex in detail. He bit his own thumb to stifle a moan, wanted to look away but he couldn't, he was spellbound, his hips pressing against the wall and he would have given everything to be able to touch her, to feel her skin against his own, hear her whisper his name whilst in the grasp of passion. This was torture, sweet and alluring and yet agonizing. She stretched herself and yawned and the sight of her perky breasts strutting pushed him over the edge.

He bit his own lip so hard he felt the taste of blood as he came, suddenly and violently and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her even at this moment. His body shook with the force of his release and he felt how hot jets of seed shot out of him and got trapped between his belly and the wall of the pool. He was seeing stars and yet he saw only her and he would have screamed if he had been alone but he couldn't make a sound, he couldn't reveal that he was there at all.

Mariliel slid into the pool, swam a few lengths and washed her hair, she was so tired she didn't feel the presence of someone there and it felt wonderful to get cleaned up. She got up from the pool and dried herself off before she put on a dressing gown and returned to her room. She had enjoyed a very peaceful day with Alaron who had helped her catalog two hundred books containing the budget of the first palace built by Thranduil's father. It had been interesting and they had shared some gossip and laughed a lot. Alaron made her feel free, and very young, Thinking about it, she had never really been young, she hadn't fooled around like the other young ellith or just played much. She had been far too serious for her age. She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow and that night she didn't have any nightmares.

Legolas on the other hand wasn't that fortunate, he just laid in the pool after she had left, clinging to the edge and feeling at the same time euphoric and shaken. He had never been so ashamed of himself, he had peeped on her like some goddamn pervert and he had pleasured himself damn it, whilst watching her bathe. He was surely going to be punished for this, the valar had to have seen what a wretch he was. But he couldn't help it, she was way too tempting and he felt as if his fëa was screaming for something, longing with bone shattering intensity for something more, something that would have made him complete!

He laid there until his body yet again was under his control, he trembled still from the after shocks but he was able to move and he could have cried. He had always thought that he was such a strong and controlled person but nope, now he had seen just how worthless his control was. There were no doubt about what he had done, the physical evidence of it was clearly visible in the water and he cringed and pulled out the bottom plug to drain the pool. The servants would have to replace the water the next day but rather that than anyone seeing this and guessing who it was who had soiled the bathwater.

He got up, dried himself and Eru curse it but he could still smell her! He stared down at his crotch, the scent of her had reawaked certain body parts and he moaned and wrapped two towels tightly around his waist before he almost ran to his own room. He would have to repeat the whole thing before he could hope to catch any sleep. But the image of her wouldn't leave his mind at all, she was so perfect, so gorgeous. He had to make her his, there was no other way around it. If someone else won her heart he would go insane, no, he would fade!

Legolas swore that he would approach her again the very next day, that he would challenge Alaron for her affection and that he would win it, no matter what. He rushed into his room and slammed the door shut, leaning back against it with his eyes closed. He still saw how her hair had shone in the moonlight, how her eyes had sparkled. No gem in their vaults was as precious as her, nor as beautiful. To hell with her temper and strange behavior, she would be his! And if his father dared to stand in the way Legolas would fight for his right to love whoever he wanted. He collapsed onto the bed and before long he was once again caught by his all-consuming need for her.

Thranduil had watched his son from the balcony of a higher level, he had a tiny smirk on his face and his eyes revealed a good amount of mirth. Judging by the wobbly gait and his son's flushed face and the fact that he didn't even notice that he was being watched he had indeed seen something that had impacted him. Thranduil had delayed his son on purpose, and he had told the servants to change the pipes too so that Legolas had to use the public bath. He knew that Mariliel used to take a bath very late and hoped that she would this night too and she had. It was all going according to plan. It was just wonderful! Now he had to encourage Legolas a bit, maybe try to make him confess his feelings to her. That would be a challenge but he was doing it to ensure his child's happiness and so he wouldn't shun any method, no matter how dirty.

Glorfindel was riding rather fast, he was sure he was on the right track and he could somehow feel that the illusive Istari was in this area. He wasn't as in sync with the forest as the avari elves or the silvans but he was an elf after all and the trees knew he was looking for Aiwendil. He rode the best horse available, a great dun stallion sired by his favorite horse Asfaloth. He would have preferred the white stallion but he had been ridden hard lately and needed rest and the dun was just as fast although not with the stamina of its sire. He had followed some smaller river and now he was approaching a rather secluded part of the land where no-one ventured.

The forest was rather quiet and he was enjoying himself, this place was not corrupted by the infestation that darkened most of this forest and it felt wonderful to get away from the demands of the other elves. He petted the horse on its neck and let it pick its own pace, he didn't want to push the animal since the path was narrow and full of rocks and holes. He was staring at some rather lovely lilies growing next to the stem of a very huge old oak when he suddenly heard some peculiar noises in the distance, he frowned and stopped the horse and not a moment too soon. A huge rabbit raced by them right in front of the horse which neighed and almost reared and after it came a disheveled creature wearing a huge hat and moldy old coats, running as fast as his legs could carry him. "Get back here you rascal, don't you desert me ya furry piece of obstinate stew material!"

Glorfindel just stared with huge eyes and Aiwendil got aware of the horse and the rider and stopped, although not very gracefully. " Ah, Glorfindel of Imladris, in his own tall, uhm, very tall person. To what do I owe this honor?"

Glorfindel dismounted and held the reins tightly. " Ah, what were you doing with that rabbit?"

Aiwendil grinned from one ear to the other, some bird poop was dribbling down his face and it made him look rather bizarre. " Oh, it is just an idea I've got. These Roshgobel rabbits are darn fast and I wanted to hitch some of them up to a sleigh."

Glorfindel almost gawked but managed to stay calm. " A sleigh? You want the rabbits to pull a sleigh?!"

Aiwendil nodded, his soft blue eyes filled with eager enthusiasm. " Yes, it is a great idea. I am sure it will work as soon as I manage to catch enough of them and of course make them used to wear a harness and get then tame enough to take orders. It shouldn't take more than a few decades at the most."

Aiwendil stared at the tall elf. " Now, where were we? Oh yes, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Glorfindel sighed and cringed, clearly the brown wizard had ingested a few very funny mushrooms this day for his eyes were a bit glassy and he was cross eyed too. No wonder why he didn't manage to catch that rabbit. " Elrond sent me."

Aiwendil tilted his head, looked confused . " Elrond you say? Elrond, Elrond….oh Elrond! That kid the two feanorians raised, great kid yes, how is he doing?"

Glorfindel wanted to do a face palm, clearly Aiwendil was very confused this day. " He is all grown up now, and the lord of Imladris, the last homely house? He is a famous healer now, surely you have heard of him?"

The balrogslayer used the same voice he would use when talking to a kid and the brown wizard tilted his head again and seemed lost in thought. " Oh yes, now I remember, how are his sons doing by the way? And that darling daughter of his? Surely she is breaking hearts ever day?"

Glorfindel smiled, tried to remain calm. " They are doing great, all three of them, now, is there somewhere we can talk?"

Aiwendil nodded and grinned, the thought that this weird creature really was a powerful maia was hard to understand but it was the truth nonetheless. The small man skidded off into the thicket with remarkable speed and Glorfindel had to duck underneath branches and jump over fallen logs. His horse followed close behind and before long they saw a building in the distance. Or building, it was a shack, or a ruin of some sorts. Glorfindel had never encountered anything quite like it, it looked as if several trees had grown straight through it and it appeared that the smallest gust of wind would make the whole construction disintegrate into its separate parts. Aiwendil waved his hand. "Come come now, enter please. Leave that lovely horse of yours outside, I am afraid he wouldn't fit inside my humble abode."

Glorfindel swallowed and followed the brown wizard into the building, he was shocked by what he saw. Every surface be it horizontal or not was covered with stuff, clothes, books, strange equipment, and it smelled of herbs and smoke and something he couldn't quite identify. Aiwendil grinned and tossed stuff around as if he was a tornado or something, after a while he found a kettle and spun around himself looking for some water and tea leaves and Glorfindel felt the sudden impulse to grasp the Istari and shake him. "You do not need to make me anything, really. I am fine!"

The small man lifted an eyebrow and that caused some dried bird poop to come loose and fall down onto his jacket. Glorfindel cringed, he was as most elves very fond of cleanliness. "Really? I have some very nice tea here, now where is it? Ah, there, this is good stuff my friend, just open the door after you have been drinking it."

Glorfindel cocked his head. " Ah, why?"

Aiwendil giggled. " To let the elephants out the door of course, one cannot have elephants roaming around inside of a house, no sir you can't. They'll trample anything."

Glorfindel was not going to touch that tea, no fucking way! If it made you see elephants it was probably one of those weeds Elrond had warned him about, they could make anyone go completely ga-ga and he didn't want that. " Pardon me, but do listen to me for a moment please, Elrond sent me here on very important business"

Aiwendil put the kettle down, his eyes looked even more funny now. Had he smoked something perhaps? Glorfindel started to suspect that the wizard had lost more than one screw, he had never been the sharpest tool in the shed but now he seemed very crazy indeed. "Uh, alright, I understand, he wouldn't have sent the famous warrior of Gondolin if it wasn't something rather dire, so what is it? Are the kitchens overrun with rats once more? Or are there molds growing on the wine caskets?"

Glorfindel moaned to himself but managed to smile, strangely enough. " No, it is more serious than that."

The brown wizard scratched his forehead, more dried poop fell like dandruff onto his collar and the elf felt a need to turn around and retch, just a little. " Really? Have the cows stopped chewing cod, are there two headed goats roaming the land?"

Glorfindel fought the urge to beat the insanity out of the Istari, seriously, the next time he met Mithrandir he was going to ask the grey wizard to check if Aiwendil was normal at all. " No, my lord have taken care of a young elleth for some time, her parents died in an attack on their village and she may be in danger. "

The strange man blinked a few times. " Go on, what sort of danger?"

Glorfindel tried to remain calm. " Well, before the attack she was gone for a few days and when her parents found her she had lost her memory but she had clearly been severely traumatized by something and Elrond believes that someone, possibly you, have saved her from someone trying to kill her."

Aiwendil looked very silly for a few seconds but then suddenly his eyes turned dark and Glorfindel felt that the very air within the cabin changed. It turned heavy and the sunlight seemed to dim, indeed this was a maia, mad or not. Aiwendil grasped him by the arm, forced him to sit down. " Tell me more, is she a red head, pale and rather long?"

Glorfindel nodded, he felt a bit nervous now. " Aye, she is. A very lovely young elleth by now, a scholar who is very smart and likeable."

For a moment Aiwendil smiled like some kind old granddad, then he hissed and his eyes turned dark again. " Oh Eru, that is her, that is the child I rescued. Yes, it was me, but why do you come to me now? What is the matter?"

Glorfindel almost backed away from the wizard. " Elrond have sent her to king Thranduil's realm, to make an inventory of an old library left by Oropher, the healer there sent him a letter claiming that she is acting weird and suffering from nightmares and he fear that she is remembering something. His ring could have protected her while she was in Imladris but now she is beyond its protective powers."

Aiwendil seemed to shrink for a moment, his eyes got distant and wide and his chin trembled. " Oh Eru forgive me, I did something terrible back then, something truly despicable."

Glorfindel felt a cold sensation seep into his very fëa. " What did you do?"

Aiwendil stared at him, the eyes were so sad, and so terrified. " She was a child, I couldn't just let a child die now could I? It was so awful, what that beast had done to her, I cannot even bare to think about it. So I did what I could, I shielded her."

Glorfindel frowned. " You did what?!"

Aiwendil sighed and he seemed to shrink right in front of the balrog slayer's eyes. " I shielded her, I couldn't let Namò take her now could I? I hid her from the doomsman, and then I hid her memories."

Glorfindel stared at the wizard, he had no idea Aiwendil was that powerful: " Then what happens if she remembers?"

Aiwendil stared at the floor, his eyes moist. " What ought to have happened back then, she'll die!"


	6. The hidden guardian

Chapter six: The hidden guardian

Mariliel was busy trying to empty some massive crates, they were the size of a small cart and impossible to move for a single elleth. They were filled with books and she had discovered that the list she had gotten when she started was inaccurate to put it politely. There were hundreds of crates that wasn't mentioned on the list and she almost blew a fuse when she discovered that. She had always favored order and such chaos was to her a sign of indifference. She was mumbling to herself as she added the crates to the list and it took hours since most of them weren't even marked. She had to open them to make sure that they did contain books and not something else. To her horror two crates didn't contain books at all, one was filled with old boots that stunk to high heavens and another one was filled with old worn tablecloths and some drapes that had to have been ancient when Melian was queen of Doriath, at least they looked that way.

Alaron was to help this day but he hadn't showed up yet and she sweated and coughed from all the dust. Outside the sun was shining and the cold weather had sort of changed the last days, it was still chilly but beautiful, the winter was approaching fast and the forest looked as if it was on fire with all the wonderful colors. Mariliel felt as though she ought to get out of the palace and get some fresh air, she wanted to see the great forest but she supposed that the king would throw a tantrum if he found out about it. And she was scared of Thranduil, she didn't want to admit it but she was, he was so cold and majestic and she strongly doubted that he had anything even resembling emotions. But she had liked Legolas though, he had been sweet and polite and they had sort of worked well together, but she was a fool to believe that the prince would want anything to do with her. She had been rude, and he had touched her and she didn't like that at all. Alaron was safe that way, he was too inexperienced and young to see her as a potential partner. He had a crush on her for sure but he wouldn't try to seduce her or anything. So he was safe to be around and she enjoyed his company.

It was annoying but she couldn't escape the feeling of something dark and terrible watching her all the time, it made her nervous and even Alaron had mentioned the haunted look in her eyes. She preferred to ignore the sensation but it was always there. Aeniel had asked her to look for old books about healing and she had found quite a few and she had put them into a crate, she was going to ask someone to bring it to the healing ward whenever she found the time. Aeniel had made some remarks about Mariliels well being but Mariliel had chosen to ignore them. The healer was her friend but she somehow felt that the problems she had faced were her own to solve. She didn't want anyone else poking around in her childish fears. Aeniel had also asked if Mariliel would like to join her gathering herbs and Mariliel felt tempted but she sort of felt as if she was abandoning her duty if she did. There was so much work to be done with the library and she had discovered that she also was to design the shelves that were supposed to hold the books. She had two months to finish the drawings and she had to estimate how many the carpenters were to make and if there was to be any adornments on them. She loved a challenge but this was getting too much even for her.

She shoved some old cookbooks into a crate and wiped the sweat of her face, her inkwell was almost dry, she needed more ink and some new quills as well and she had a headache. She hadn't slept very well the previous night, some nightmare again, and now she was paying the price. She heard footsteps and turned around, it was Alaron and he was smiling, He held some golden leaves in his hands and Mariliel noticed his childlike enthusiasm, she hoped that it never would disappear but she knew it was a hope that most likely would crumble and fall soon enough. " Look, aren't they beautiful? I wish we could preserve them like this, they would make lovely decorations wouldn't they?"

Mariliel nodded. " Yes, I bet the forest looks amazing now"

Alaron nodded. " Oh it does, it is never more beautiful than now in autumn, why don't you leave the books for a few hours? We could go for a ride! I know so many exciting places we could go to"

Mariliel sighed and stared at the veritable sea of unopened crates and sacks. Well, why the heck not? She would stay there for quite a while so a few hours shouldn't matter that much. " Alrigh, but the king cannot know of it, he will be furious"

Alaron giggled and grasped her hand. " Come, I can show you the ruins of the old palace, the one Oropher built at Emyn Muir."

Mariliel got interested right away. " Really? Isn't that a long way from here?"

Alaron shook his head. " I know a short cut, one few uses, Father used to take me there when I was little, to show me a bit of our history."

Mariliel started to feel excited, Erenion needed the exercise and she needed to feel the sun against her skin again. "Alrigh, meet me by the stables, I have to get into some other clothes, should I bring something?"

Alaron shook his head. " I will go to the kitchens and order some food so we can have a picnic, and you can look for rare herbs too if you like."

Mariliel smiled, suddenly she was looking forward to this day and she slammed the crate shut and got up, ran to her room to get changed. She still had the clothes she had arrived in and she got into them and noticed that they seemed a bit too large now. She braided her hair and attached her dagger to her thigh, then she grinned to her own reflection in the mirror and hurried towards the stables. On the way she almost ran into Aeniel, she was carrying a huge basket of what had to be dried stems of buckleaf plants and Mariliel stopped and cringed her nose. Those plants did make a rather pungent smell but they were wonderful medicine against stomach cramps. Aeniel did notice the joy in her eyes and tilted her head. " Heading out?"

Mariliel nodded, she couldn't stop grinning. Going for a ride was just what she needed to do now. "Yes, Alaron has promised to show me the ruins of the old palace."

Aeniel smiled. "That is wonderful dear, it is such a beautiful area. When you are there, could you do me a favor?"

Mariliel nodded. " Of course, what?"

Aeniel put the basket down. "There used to be a huge herbal garden there, most of the herbs are gone by now but I know that some spread and are growing in the woods of the area like wild plants by now. I am short of one herb and I think you should be able to find it there. "

Mariliel nodded. " Alright, which one?"

Aeniel bit her lower lip. " Have you heard of Red dragonflower?"

Mariliel tilted her head. " Uh, no? I cannot say that I have?"

Aeniel sighed and looked a bit uncertain of what to do. " It is very rare so that is no wonder, but it is very precious, the pollen of that flower is a very powerful painkiller, but it can be dangerous too. "

Mariliel blinked a few times. " Describe it to me, I am sure I can find it."

Aeniel sent her a genuine smile. " Oh bless you dear, the plant is almost waist tall, it has huge leaves that are smooth on one side and jagged on the other, and they are stiff and thick, Usually there are four or six leaves and one stem with a clutch of flowers. It is the stem and the flowers I want but do not inhale the pollen, it can cause hallucinations."

Mariliel giggled. " Oh, we wouldn't want that now would we, alright, I will see if I can find some."

Aeniel dragged a bag out of her apron. " Here, gather them in this, I need at least four stems with flowers, I would prefer even more if you can find them."

Mariliel took the bag and then she bid the healer goodbye and ran. Aeniel stared after her, it was obvious that Alaron was good for her but Aeniel suspected that it was because he was harmless, he was a mere youth and would never cross the line and do something rude or threatening. The way Mariliel had acted earlier told Aeniel that her relationship to ellyn was strained at the best, and she wished she knew why. Living alone is never a good idea, it drains one and Aeniel liked Mariliel and wanted her to find her one and live happily ever after.

Mariliel ran into the stables and found her saddle and tack and an ellon working there helped her get it onto Erenion who snorted and neighed and tossed his great head in excitement. Alaron showed up carrying two saddle bags with food and drink and the stable hand gave him a very long legged young mare. He thought that it was the only horse there capable of keeping up with the black stallion. Alaron got into the saddle and Mariliel mounted her steed and off they went. Mariliel let out a small shriek of joy, she let her horse run with loose reins and he thundered down the path. Alaron followed suit on the long legged mare and he soon found the right path to follow. Mariliel was feeling free, the sunlight danced through the canopy and she felt happy and alive. She truly felt that she was an elf now when she was out in the woods and didn't have to spend hours down in the dark vaults.

Alaron laughed and spurred the mare and Erenion whinnied and made a few jumps out of sheer joy. The forest was beautiful this day and the birds were singing. The horses startled a few squirrels who cursed them in the way of squirrels and Mariliel laughed at them and thought they were cute. After a while they slowed down and entered a more ragged terrain. Alaron smiled and looked very happy. " I am so glad I can show you this, it is such a beautiful place and it is rather peaceful too."

Mariliel frowned. " Then why did they abandon it?"

Alaron shrugged. "It was made from wood and a couple of thousand years old, it was hard to maintain it I guess and it was getting too small. Besides, it gave little protection in case of war so they just left when the caves were finished."

Mariliel sort of found the idea of a whole palace being abandoned just like that a bit sad. " I bet it was wonderful once upon a time"

Alaron nodded, "I have seen paintings of it, it was very beautiful with huge gardens and everything. But things were different back then, less dangerous. "

Mariliel nodded and they rode onto a track following a narrow stream. It was very idyllic and she enjoyed the scents of the flowers that still were blooming and the clear air of autumn. The stream was rather small but she could see that it once had been a real river and Alaron explained that it had been the main source of water for the palace. They followed the stream for a couple of hours and then they crossed some hills that were covered with huge fir trees. Between the hills there was a rather flat area and that was where the palace once had lain. Mariliel saw that it had to have been a huge structure, the foundations were still there and you could probably have fitted the entire city of Imladris inside of them. It was a wonder to behold and she took the saddle of the horse and let him graze. Alaron brought the saddlebags and they sat down on a fallen column and he revealed that he had sweet talked the cook into giving him both a bottle of fine wine and enough food for four at least.

Mariliel felt hungry so she grasped a sandwich with lettuce and ham and it tasted excellent. Alaron ate with good appetite too and they finished with a swig of wine each. Mariliel felt relaxed and a bit drowsy too, but she had work to do. " Aeniel told me to go looking for some herbs."

Alaron nodded. " Which ones? I can help you?"

Mariliel described the plant and they went in separate directions. Mariliel did notice also many other rare herbs and she gathered a lot of them. She walked further away from the palace and found a small pond. On the farther side of it she saw what had to be the herb Aeniel needed and she hurried to get over there. She was right, at least six rather huge plants grew there and she grinned and harvested the stems and the flowers. The bag was stuffed with them afterwards and she felt pleased with her own effort. Aeniel would be so pleased.

She hurried back to the ruin but Alaron wasn't there, he had to be gathering herbs still and she sat down onto an old pedestal and had some more food. The horses were grazing peacefully but she did notice that the sun was heading back toward the horizon, they would have to return soon. She got nervous and got up, where was Alaron? She started walking in the direction he had chosen and she found his footprints in the soft soil. She felt a sense of urgency and started running. She shouted his name and heard something, a muffled answer. She turned towards a small ravine and there she saw a glimpse of something blue, it had to be his cloak and she hurried towards it only to stop and stare in shock and confusion.

Alaron lay on his back on the ground, he was very pale and there was a small pool of blood next to his head, he was grasping his right arm and making some sobbing sounds. There was a lot of lose rocks strewn over the forest floor next to him and she saw what had happened. He had been so busy looking for herbs he had been hit by a small rock slide and he hadn't had time to get out of the way.

"M…Mariliel?"

She ran over and kneeled beside him, he was shivering and his eyes were huge. " I am here, what happened?"

Alaron groaned and closed his eyes, he shivered and she did notice that his right hand was terribly swollen, and it was almost blue in color. What had happened to him?

The young ellon tried to sit up but he was obviously too weak to move well, he just whimpered and tears started flowing from his eyes, wetting his dark hair. "I…I saw some roots I do know and tried to pull them loose, I accidentally put my hand into a hole and something bit me. I jerked back and some rocks came loose and there was a small avalanche ! Eru, it hurts!"

Mariliel gasped and stared at him. " Your head is bleeding?"

He nodded. " A rock hit me, not a big one but I think I have a concussion. The arm on the other hand…"

Mariliel grasped the swollen hand and the swelling had extended all the way up past his elbow. The arm looked as if it was about to burst. She examined the skin carefully and in the middle of the palm she found two holes. " Do you think it was a snake?"

Alaron moaned in pain and his eyes were rolling, he was sweating and that was not a good sign. Elves are more resilient against disease than humans but they can be poisoned and some poisons are strong enough to harm even an elf. " It…it is still in that hole I think"

Mariliel swallowed hard. She had to determine what it was that had bitten him if she was to do anything useful. She grasped a thick branch and approached the hole with her heart beating like mad. It was a gap between two rocks and she jabbed the branch into it. Immediately she heard a very angry hissing sound and something long and dark slithered out from behind the rocks. She gasped, it was a very rare species of snake and she had never seen one for real but she had seen drawings of them and she recognized the triangular shape of the head and the dark color. The edain called them death vipers and they were lethal. Only a small dose of poison was enough to kill a dozen adult humans and a well placed bite was deadly even to an elf without antidote.

Alaron swallowed and gasped. " Help me back to the ruin, I am so dizzy"

Mariliel didn't know what to say. "You…you shouldn't move!"

Alaron closed his eyes and he was so very young, she did see that now, hardly more than a child. Where was the justice in this? " It is too late Mariliel, don't you see? The poison has reached my heart, I can feel it. I just want to get warm again."

She bent down and pulled him up, she felt sick. Without antidote there was only one thing to do when someone was bitten by such a snake and that was amputating the limb before the poison could reach the heart but it was too late. Alaron had probably been knocked out by the falling rocks and he hadn't had time to call for help before it was too late. He had to have lain there for hours.

They got back to the ruins and Mariliel gathered some wood and got a fire going, it was getting dark soon and she was weeping. Alaron was delirious with pain and so she gave him some of the pollen from the herbs she had gathered but it only helped a little. It took the top of the pain but Alaron was still gasping and writhing in agony. " You…you must return home when I am gone, promise me!"

Mariliel wanted to tell him that he would live but she knew it was a lie. He was dying, there was no denying it and he knew that too. " I cannot just leave you here?!"

Alaron gasped for air, convulsions were starting to tear through his body and he looked terrible. "It will be just an empty husk Mariliel, just tell my father what happened"

Mariliel sobbed. " I will, oh Alaron, I am so sorry, so terribly sorry"

He tried to smile. " Look, it isn't so bad now is it? At least I am dying in the arms of a beautiful elleth Not all are that fortunate eh?"

She sniffed and cradled him close, he was so terribly warm and yet he was clammy and the body was struggling against the poison but it was a battle he had to lose. "It is no joke Alaron, I wish I had found you earlier"

He closed his eyes. " And done what? Not even Aeniel has antidote, the ride back would have killed me for sure. No, I am as good as dead Mariliel and….and "

He sobbed and she stroked his hair, tried to put him into a comfortable position. " Yes?"

He stared at her, the bright eyes hazy with pain and fear. " I have dreamt of you Mariliel, of us, being together. And I have had those dreams and …touched myself. I…I have been a fool, but …I think I love you"

Mariliel gasped for air, she couldn't say the same, it would have been an ugly lie. She had to be honest. " I like you too Alaron, but not the way you like me"

He nodded, grasped onto her cloak with his left hand, it was trembling. " I know, it was just a silly dream, but…may I ask something of you?"

She nodded. Her own tears were warming her cheeks and she wished she could have taken his place, that would have been way more fair. After all, she was damaged, she didn't know how but she was. He gasped again, his airways were constricting and he didn't have long now. "I…haven't…even …kissed….someone…"

Mariliel let out a small keening sound, why were the valar so cruel? He was an innocent youth, why couldn't that snake have bitten someone more deserving such a death, that cold hearted king , or some orc? She got a grasp of herself, tried to smile at him. " I will kiss you Alaron, will you let me?"

He nodded and tried to smile. " You honor me my lady"

She choked a sob. " It is I who are honored Alaron, to have been your friend."

She leaned down and let their lips meet, it was a chaste kiss but a kiss nonetheless and she let it last so he would have time to savor the feeling. It made her insides churn but she endured and he sent her a sad smile when she let go. " I can die in peace now, just…just promise me that you will remember me, even when you find your true love"

She held his hand and felt how his fëa was growing weaker by the second. " I cannot forget you Alaron, not even if I tried."

He was shaking violently, the pain in those eyes just too much to behold but she couldn't just look away. Instead she grasped onto him, held him close and she heard the rattling sound when he breathed and knew that there was nothing she could do. She had never been so helpless, so abandoned. Why did this have to happen to someone this sweet and kind? He arched, the body stiff as a board, then he suddenly relaxed and his eyes were weird, there was no more pain in them, just a sort of unnatural light. " I can hear him, his voice is so soft. I have to go now, farewell Mariliel"

She stared down at his face, in absolute shock and grief and witnessed as the very light vanished from his eyes, they became lifeless, empty. There were nobody in there anymore, and the body was just dead weight. For a moment she just sat there, staring blindly at his once so fair face and she rocked him as if to wake him up. Then the truth hit her and she bent over and screamed, wailed until her lungs burned and her vision started to fade.

She had no idea of how long she sat there, in a daze of grief and shock, it could have been hours for when she finally came too she saw that the moon was riding high and the stars were alight. It was a wonderful sight but not one that Alaron would enjoy again on this side of the halls. It was getting cold and she was running out of firewood, she couldn't stay any longer. They were probably looking for the two of them already, Aeniel was surely very nervous now. Mariliel got up and wiped the tears of her face, she had to be strong now, for Alaron. She pulled his body in behind a wall and covered it with his saddle blanket and some branches so no scavengers would find it, then she prepared to get the horses and ride back to the palace, someone would have to get back there to collect Alaron's corpse. His father would most certainly wish for his son to be given a proper funeral.

Erenion was nervous and the mare even more so, the horses were running around with their heads held high and their nostrils were flaring. Mariliel stopped and got a bit worried, something had spooked them but what? Then she heard a strange sound coming from afar, it reminded her of a wolfs howl but it was deeper and rougher. The mare lost it, she whinnied and ran off and Mariliel knew she couldn't stop the horse. Her stallion stayed but his eyes were rolling and he was sweating. Mariliel got a terrible feeling, something was wrong, something was very wrong indeed. The howling sound got nearer and she realized what it had to be, wargs! She gasped and knew that she couldn't hope to get away from them in the dark. Her horse was faster than any other steed she had ever encountered but the terrain was treacherous and even a fast horse can stumble and break a leg or toss its rider.

There were some huge old oaks growing close to the old ruin, the canopy was dense and she made the decision within a split second. She kicked her boots off and tied the laces to her belt, then she climbed the tallest tree and continued until she found a small cave between two branches where a third branch had rotted away. It was big enough for her to sit comfortably within it and she just hoped that her horse would understand the situation and run for help. She was safe in the tree, wargs cannot climb and they are stupid creatures so maybe they would just run by. She whistled for Erenion to run away but the stallion refused to move, he just stood there, staring in the direction of the oncoming wargs and Mariliel was getting scared. What was that horse doing?

Glorfindel was staring at Aiwendil with huge eyes, the news had shocked him to the core and he was glad he was sitting down for otherwise he would have shaken the maia to make him tell him everything. " What do you mean by that? "

Aiwendil shrugged. " What I said, if she remembers she will die!"

Glorfindel swallowed hard, his fair face was rather harsh to look at and the blue eyes were shooting lightning. "And what is it that she cannot remember?"

The wizard sat down, his eyes were glazed over with grief and regret and he looked as if he was close to tears. " I think it is better that you get the whole terrible story, then you can be the judge of whether or not I should have intervened."

Glorfindel leaned forward, he felt like a freaking giant within that small cottage, it felt too small for him. "Alright, I am listening."

Aiwendil made an attempt at smiling. " Be warned pal, it is nasty."

Glorfindel scoffed. " You know who you are talking to right? I was there when Gondolin fell remember? I know what nasty is"

Aiwendil sighed, his ancient eyes so filled with sorrow. " Oh I bet you do, and so do I, but this…this I cannot forget."

He leaned back against the trunk of the tree that had invaded the building and allowed his mind to drift back into a day that had forced him to interfere with the very song itself.

Aiwendil had no clear recollection of why he had ended up by that small river, or how. He had probably tasted some of those very tasty but oh so dangerous mushrooms of his again and walked off in a haze but it mattered not. He was to keep an eye on the woods and that he did, it couldn't matter that much if he went somewhere new? He had rested by the stream and had a long and very interesting conversation with an otter who claimed that the elves in the nearby village were too noisy and frightened her pups and he had done his best to calm the distraught mother down. After all the neighbors were elves, if they had been edain they would have hunted both her and her mate and their pups for their pelts. A little noise should be tolerated considering this fact.

Afterwards he had helped getting some vines out of the canopy of a majestic elm tree and then he had sat down hoping to enjoy his lunch. He had a very nice pie made from peas and onions and he was looking forward to sinking his teeth into it. He did also have a whole bottle of a very nice old wine and that he was looking forward to even more. He had gotten it from some elves and he rarely got fine wine these days. It had to be the fact that he no longer bothered with dressing in fine robes and all that stuff.

Curumo was fond of such displays of power, all shiny and white, bha, he had no idea of what real work was. He ought to help rescue a deer out of a bog or deliver a litter of piglets, then they could compare their robes and see who's was the most practical ones. Aiwendil didn't like Curumo that much, alright, he was the most powerful of them but he wasn't the wisest one. He was so obsessed with control that one, everything had to be perfect and predicable and just the way he thought it ought to be. Aiwendil did appreciate a little bit of chaos, yes he did, it brought change and change could be good. Mithrandir on the other hand? Now there you had a decent fellow who hadn't lost his common sense, Aiwendil did like Mithrandir a lot. Truth be told, he preferred to be speaking in riddles and he could just vanish from time to time but he saw the world as it was, not as some slightly disturbed control freak wanted it to be.

Aiwendil chuckled, he remembered the last time the Istari had met, he had managed to make Curumo green around the gills with his pipeweed and Mithrandir had scolded him for it but it was half hearted. Everybody could see that. In fact, Mithrandir had taken up the habit too, just to annoy their leader. It was really funny. He opened the small packet containing the pie and licked his lips, it smelled just delicious and he had wanted to see if he could use some of the herbs he was using as a seasoning but this time he had waited. Oh Eru, that tasted like a small piece of heaven, it would cause a lot of flatulence for sure for peas tend to do that but who cares? It wasn't as if he was a cow or something for there you could encounter some real flatulence. He finished the pie and took a swig of the wine, heavenly! The elves did know how to make wine for sure. He put the bottle down and then he heard it, a sort of scream coming from the direction of the river. It had to be some distance away but it had sounded like something or someone in need.

He hesitated. He wasn't to interfere with the everyday life of the common people but if something was wrong then he couldn't just refuse to do something? His consciousness would never let him forgive himself for that. He got up, hid his bag and grasped his staff before he wandered off towards the sound. The river did a wide bend there and he followed the belt of thick brush growing along the banks, it provided him with excellent cover and he knew how to move with stealth like an elf would. He came around the bend and stopped, there was a small groove of trees growing on a patch of land that would become an island whenever the river was flooded. Now it was attached to the bank via a small narrow stretch of gravel and rough rocks and the sound had to have come from that small collection of trees. He opened his senses, heard the trees and their voices were horrified, aghast. He just knew it then, that this was something really bad, something terrible.

He walked forth and heard a new sound, some sort of slapping noise with rhythm to it. He tilted his head, what was that? He slowed down, hesitated. He heard some sort of groaning and was reminded of the one time he had encountered two giant turtles by the beach back in Aman, he had just wandered into a very intimate moment and the moaning and grunting he heard then was quite similar to this. He could still remember the upset look in the eyes of the male turtle, if looks had the power to kill he would have been toast back then. But if someone had simply snuck away for some privacy then the trees wouldn't have reacted the way they did.

There was more groaning and the sound of movements got more intense, then he heard a throaty howl and he had no problems understanding the nature of the action that was going on over there. It was just that the trees, they were very distraught and the scream…. He moved forth, slowly and with great care not to make any sound that would reveal his whereabouts. He crouched down, crept closer and hid behind a huge boulder. Then he peeked out from behind it, and at first he didn't understand what he saw.

There was a man, a rather tall adan dressed in clothes just as shaggy as his own and he had long unkempt hair and a beard that looked as if he had tried to cut it with a blunt knife. He had his pants down around his ankles and his tunic was pulled up above his waist and he was grunting and gasping and his hips were eagerly pumping against his partner. Aiwendil swallowed, he saw a couple of legs, one on each side of the man's hips, and they were so small, so short. Then he saw a pair of hands, spread out, tied to a tree each and time suddenly seemed to freeze. He saw, he saw that pale small face underneath the man's chest, the closed eyes and the red hair spread like a halo around the child, and he saw that delicately pointed ear. He couldn't breathe, he didn't want to see, didn't want to know that this was happening but it was, and it was real and…. His hands were shaking, he heard the man groaning again and he had never seen anything like that, anything that sick, that awful. And it was a human being, not an orc!

He stared into nothing, eyes wide and terrified and so deeply shocked. With his senses he could feel agony, and fear and confusion mixed with that awful human's lust and sick desire. It made him want to retch, to puke his guts out. The poor child, and it was an elfling! The elves would go ballistic if they found out about this, and the grief would be heart shattering too. He had to do something, he had to stop this! He grasped his staff, tried to calm himself. He could knock the man out and then try to bring the child to safety, maybe back to her parents. Maybe it wasn't too late. He heard some rasping sounds, like someone had problems breathing. He peeked again, stared at the human who was squeezing his hands around the child's neck, suffocating her while he kept thrusting, seeking yet another release. "Yes, die you little cunt, I…uuuhhnnn…want to feel you….tremble!"

That did it, Aiwendil felt how an unholy rage filled him, how the hrôa he had been given no longer could hide his true nature but he couldn't help it. He got up, rushed ahead and knew that he was glowing brightly like a descending star. The man stared, eyes wide and face contorted by his orgasm and Aiwendil had never felt more disgusted before. He let his full power rush forth, the man was thrown off the child and rolled a few times along the sand, still twitching in obscene spasms and Aiwendil screamed in rage and pressed his staff against the human's chest, sent forth a blast of energy that quite literally fried his heart within his chest. The human made a ghastly gargling sound and jerked a few times, still coming from the look of it and then he was dead and just laid there, smoke was rising from him and Aiwendil made a whimpering sound. Oh Eru, he had killed someone! He wasn't supposed to kill!

He turned towards the child, it was indeed an elfling, a little girl who looked the way a human six year old would look. She was tied up and not moving, the eyes closed and she was barely breathing. Aiwendil felt to his knees, such a beautiful child, such innocence brutally ruined by sheer evil. He suddenly wished that he could have fried that man again, and again, and again.

The girl was tied up with rough rawhide strings, he cut them with his belt knife and he felt tears staining his cheeks, there was a terrible black bruise around her neck, several bite marks in her skin and some bruises that suggested that she had been hit many times. But the worst damage was down between her legs, there was so much blood and Aiwendil just knew that the filthy beast had torn her apart internally. She was way too small for what he had done to her and the Istari wept for her. What a terrible horrible way to die, what could he do now? He leaned forth, felt how her fëa was struggling to break free from her hröa and he wished he could have comforted her, told her that this wasn't her fault, that she was innocent and not to blame. The rage awakened again, no! That beast would not win, heck no, he wouldn't let this beautiful child die! There were parents out there, parents who would mourn and maybe even fade if they were told of their daughter's horrible fate. He knew how fond the elves were of their children, he couldn't let that happen!

He put his hand upon her belly, started to force torn tissue back together again, made the body replace the lost blood. He kept pouring energy into her, she was struggling against his will now, the call of Nàmo already answered and she was at the doors, the doomsman reaching out for her. Aiwendil was sweating, mumbling spells the whole time. " No, you are not getting her, you cannot have her! It isn't fair, do you hear me?"

He repaired all the damages he could find, her body was back to normal now and he felt the presence of the vala everybody feared. He looked up, Nàmo stood there in his beautiful dark robes and his eyes were sad. " Aiwendil, this soul was supposed to enter my halls today, and that adan was supposed to die three years from now, in his bed, from a ruptured bladder"

Aiwendil hissed, put a wall of protective magic around the child. "I do not care, look at her, look at what he did? I cannot accept that her fate is thus!"

Nàmo sighed but there was a bittersweet smile on the beautiful and yet so dark face. "Oh Aiwendil, you have always had a heart too large for your fàna. You have changed the course of history, and she is still in danger"

Aiwendil stared at the vala, his eyes large and he was glowing again, ready to fight. "What do you mean? I have fixed her!"

Nàmo nodded. " Her hröa yes, but not her fëa. She will know what he did to her, and she will fade Aiwendil."

He gasped, stared down at the unconscious child and saw that her fëa still was struggling to break free. He sobbed and knelt down. " No little one, I will make it all go away, you will never know what he did to you"

He grasped onto the trembling spark of light that was the child's spirit and dove into her memories, saw it all and he wanted to scream, to throw up, to wail towards the skies but he didn't. He carefully moved a few days back, and then he wrapped the memories that followed them into a bundle and hid them, deep deep within the very basement of her mind. " She will never know!"

He stared at the vala in defiance and Nàmo shook his head and sighed. " Maybe she will, maybe she won't. The knowledge of this is still there Aiwendil, and it may resurface. When it does she will be mine, mark my words. Very little can save her then, for she will understand and remember and not even you can hold her here if that happens."

Aiwendil shot his chin forth. " We'll see about that. She won't remember! I am sure!"

Nàmo faded and Aiwendil heard him chuckle. " Do not be so sure maia, I have seen the song you know, she cannot be saved by you."

Aiwendil groaned. " Then who, who may save her?"

He heard the doomsman's voice from afar. " Not who Aiwendil, what! Love, her true love may bind her to Arda, nothing else"

Aiwendil shivered, he stared at the unconscious girl and the dead man and knew that he had done something he would regret but he felt as if there had been no choice. The child deserved to live, to experience life and love and joy and sorrow like anyone else. He grasped the corpse and dumped it unceremoniously into the river, cringing by the sight of all the blood and the semen sticking to the exposed skin. If there had been orcs in the area he would have left it for them to devour, that would have been a very fitting end.

He washed the child gently, combed her hair and removed twigs and grass from it. There was a simple dress hanging from a branch and he got it back onto her before he lifted her and carried her away from the river and onto a small path. The village wasn't far away, he was sure she knew where she was and he sighed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. " Go now little one, and please, live a good life. I will see if I can send you some aid, something to help you stay strong."

He touched the child with his staff and walked away, she would wake up in a few moments and then he ought to be gone. He watched as she got up, waddled off looking very confused and scared, he did pity her and he did pity her parents but she was alive and would stay that way. Yes, he would never regret what he had done, no matter what the consequences were. They could throw him into the void to join Morgoth for all he cared. He had done the right thing and he just knew it. He hoped that all of his blessings would follow the child from now on, he had used a lot of force to heal her and that would affect her also later on in life. It ought to make her strong and willful and perhaps a wee bit crazy too but that didn't need to be a bad thing now did it?

Glorfindel looked as if he was about to grab the nearest jar and make use of it, he was pale and a bit green and Aiwendil sighed and shrugged. " I warned you now didn't I?"

Glorfindel nodded and closed his eyes. " Yes, but by Morgoth's balls, that was beyond nasty! That was…grotesque! I had no idea humans had such sick…needs!"

Aiwendil stared at the ground, he looked tired. " Some does I am afraid, few act by them though, for they know it is wrong but some are weak and give into it. That adan was one of those."

Glorfindel blinked hard a few times. " Oh poor Mariliel, if we only had known! And she may be getting her memory back!"

Aiwendil swallowed. " Nàmo said that only her true love may save her then, for he is waiting."

Glorfindel moaned. " Then let's pray that her one is in the greenwood, and that he can be found easily. I am afraid time is running out"

He suddenly turned his head, stared at Aiwendil. " Wait a minute, you said something about aid, something to make her stronger?"

Aiwendil sniggered. " Oh yes, that part, oh that is the good part. I still have some contacts you know"

Glorfindel frowned. " Uh, contacts? "

Aiwendil nodded eagerly. " Yes, I serve Yavanna you know, and I happen to be a good friend of Ôrome too. He owed me one and so yes, he sent something her way, something to protect her"

Glorfindel frowned even harder, he looked almost sinister. " Uh, what are you talking about now?"

Aiwendil made a gesture towards the woods. " Oh, just a little something that was left out when the valar shaped arda. A species that didn't really fit in but Orome kind of liked them and they are strong so it was just fitting to leave one for the girl to find"

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow. " Her horse?!"

Aiwendil did giggle a little. " Nope, no horse, like I said, an experiment that went a little too well"

Glorfindel rolled his eyes and groaned. " Great, is there anything else I need to know?"

The wizard shook his head and grasped a kettle. " I do not think so, would you like some tea now?"

Mariliel stared at the wide open field in front of the ruins, she saw her horse as a dark shadow and now there were other shadows moving forth from the forest. She saw them in the moonlight, huge wargs and there were at least twelve of them. Why didn't Erenion run away, no horse could fight a pack of wargs? What if there were orcs following them? She whimpered and clung onto the tree, had no idea of what it was that was happening. The wargs ran forth, smelling the horse and seeing an easy prey. Then Erenin whinnied, a terrible high pitched sound that didn't sound like the normal noises a horse can make at all. He was glowing, bright blue and Mariliel saw that light seemed to stream out of his forehead, like a single horn. The eyes were glowing blue, and he moved as if he didn't weigh anything. The stallion rushed forth, head lowered and the light pierced the first warg and transformed it to a smoldering heap of ashes.

Mariliel gasped, what was this? The animal reared, light pouring from him, burning the wargs which whimpered and tried to back away. Massive hooves trampled wargs, crushed them, the animal was spinning, kicking, skewering them with the horn. Making impossible jumps and the remaining wargs tried to escape but they seemed to be running in slow motion. They didn't make it, the black stallion killed them all. What was left was a few flattened bodies and some ashes, she stared with huge eyes at the animal which raised its head and whinnied in triumph. " Oh Erenion, you were never a horse now were you?"

She climbed down from the tree and the huge stallion approached her, the eyes were still glowing and she now knew why he was so fast. She reached out and touched the soft muzzle and he grunted and rubbed it against her hand, just like he would do normally. "What are you my friend? I have never heard of such a creature before. Thank you though, for fighting for me"

The stallion nodded his head and licked her hand, then he threw his head up again and the nostrils were flaring, he grunted and leaned down, gestured for her to mount him. " Alright, are there more wargs coming?"

The animal pushed her up and she grasped onto the mane, Erenion snorted and burst into a sprint right away and she realized that she never had ridden that fast before. Behind her she hears some ugly rough shouts. Orcs! She was right, the wargs were just scouts. There is a huge orc pack following them and she leans forth, hiding within the wild mane. It feels as if the great stallion has grown in size, as if she is a mere child, an ant clinging to a mountain. The speed is terrifying but she sees that arrows are flying after them, the orcs have archers and she sort of knows that they cannot harm the mighty animal but they can harm her. " We cannot go back to the palace, we have to draw them in another direction"

The animal makes a turn, runs into a new path. She has no idea of where it will take them but anything is better than to bring this huge pack of orcs to the other elves. Arrows screech through the air, she makes a small target but suddenly she feels a burning pain along her left leg. An arrow has grazed her, and blood is flowing from the cut. Erenion increases his speed even more and the orcs howl in disappointment. The forest is dark here, dense and the moon is nowhere to be seen. The horse is glowing though, throwing a pale blue light onto their surroundings. There are cobwebs everywhere and Mariliel sort of knows what the stallion is doing, he is luring the orcs into a death trap.

The wound on her legs was starting to feel strangely numb and Mariliel looks down at it. There is some sort of dark goo left in the cut and she swallows hard. She has been poisoned and it is spreading through her body. She starts feeling dizzy and for a moment she fears that she will join Alaron in the halls. Fear shoots through her, and she clings onto the thick mane desperately but her balance is failing and she feels so weak. Erenion slows down, there is a giant oak right in front of them, and the stallion walks over to it, presses the horn of light into the very tree itself. The ground shudders, and there is a groaning sound coming from the trees around them. Suddenly roots are moving, branches are being lifted and they are shaking, as if a strange form of wrath is being unleashed. Mariliel whimpers, it is too much, simply too much. An opening appears in the tree and the stallion kneels, lets her slide down from his back. " Hide, rest, help will come"

The voice is soft and yet powerful and only in her head and she cannot do anything but obey, dumbstruck by it all. She has no idea of what it is that is going on, her mind overwhelmed. She enters the opening and it closes behind her. On the inside is a small cave covered with soft moss and light comes from some glowing mushrooms growing on the very tree itself. She sits down, feeling dizzy and disoriented, the wound is hurting more and more and she knows that she is in serious trouble. If somebody doesn't help her she will die. She leans against the soft moss and closes her eyes. " Eru help me, please, someone!"

The light slowly vanishes, she is passing out and the forest is awakening around the ancient oak, tonight the hunters will become the hunted.


	7. A night of death and memories

Chapter 8: A night of death and memories…

The palace was rather quiet, some guards stood by the gates and a couple of horse grooms were brushing off some of the kings personal horses just outside the stable. The weather had turned rather nasty that evening and some heavy rain showers had convinced everybody of the necessity of staying indoors. Aeniel had been terribly busy with her work, they had to replenish their storage of some rather important potions and lotions and she had been grinding herbs and mixing stuff the entire evening. She was so focused upon her work she didn't realize that it was getting dark, only when one of the younger healers asked for permission to leave did she notice that it was getting late. She washed her hands off in a basin of water and felt how a surge of unease rushed through her. Mariliel hadn't returned yet, she shouldn't have needed that much time gathering some herbs?

Aeniel bit her lower lip, something was wrong, she just knew it. She put on a cloak and ran towards the entrance, stopped when she saw the rain that hammered against the ground. Perhaps she and Alaron had sought cover somewhere? Aeniel hoped so, but her gut told her otherwise. She stood there and tried to decide what to do when the prince and a couple of other ellyn came walking by, they were discussing some problems with one of the river gates and didn't notice her at first until Legolas suddenly realized that it was a person standing there. He recognized her and bowed his head. " Healer Aeniel, why are you here? The weather is dreadful!"

Aeniel made a grimace. " Yes, but…Mariliel and Alaron left for the old palace this morning and they haven't returned yet, I am getting worried. "

Legolas gasped and he got tense, stared at her. " Are you telling me that she is out there now?"

The healer nodded. " Yes, I am afraid so. They haven't returned, I would have been told for she was going to gather some valuable herbs for me."

Legolas was about to answer when they heard whinnying and both let out a gasp of relief thinking it was Mariliel and Alaron returning. But it wasn't, only one horse came trotting out of the darkness, dripping wet, without a rider and with some nasty cuts along its flanks. It was Alaron's mare and Aeniel let out a small shriek. Two of the other ellyn present ran forth and stopped the horse which threw its head and snorted, eyes wide open and nostrils flaring. Legolas ran forth, his eyes were filled with fear now and Aeniel started to realize that perhaps the prince did care about Mariliel after all. The mare tried to rear and she was obviously in a state of panic so the grooms coaxed the spooked horse into the stable very carefully. Legolas took a look at the wounds, he hissed. " Those are warg bites, Eru have mercy!"

He was breathing fast and Aeniel could see that he had turned pale. Wargs meant orcs, and the idea of Mariliel falling victim to such foul creatures filled his heart with dread. He spun around and yelled at the grooms. " Saddle a horse, I am going out."

Aeniel gasped. " My lord, what if there are many orcs? You will need help, an escort. "

Legolas looked tense, his eyes were dark. " I could ask for some guards but then my father would know and he will never allow me to leave. The very idea will make him livid I fear. Not even for one of our own would he allow me to risk my own safety thus, and for a noldo? He would rather cut off his right arm!"

The grooms saddled a long legged grey gelding and Legolas ran to his rooms and got his best bow and a quiver full of arrows plus his daggers and a sword. He put on his hunting outfit and a thick water proof cloak and he also brought an extra one and some blankets and some food. He had to find her, the very idea of losing her was suddenly unbearable.

Aeniel was still standing by the gate when he returned, she was drenched already but didn't care. " My lord, do be careful? We cannot afford to lose you!"

Legolas got in the saddle of the horse, pulled the hood up. " I will be as careful as I can, if I haven't returned by dawn then tell my father to send out a patrol or more."

Aeniel cringed. " But…you shouldn't go alone, really!"

Legolas turned the horse around. " One rider can go unnoticed in these woods, a whole troop can not. I will find her Aeniel, and Alaron too."

He kicked the horse into a gallop and disappeared into the darkness and Aeniel was left there with a sensation of having overlooked something. He wouldn't have reacted thus if he didn't care? Or would he? Aeniel just knew that Legolas was the right kind of ellon for Mariliel, but her past had obviously barred her path towards happiness. She could only pray that the valar were merciful and didn't kill what could be a beautiful relationship before it even had a chance to start.

Legolas felt how a strange fear filled him, he had seen what orcs could do before. And the images in his mind were haunting him, tormenting him until they almost drove him frantic. He had to find her. He couldn't even bare to think of the possibility of finding her dead. He had to find Alaron too of course but Mariliel was the one he was thinking about , worrying about. He felt anger too, a sort of jealousy or maybe disappointment He ought to be the one to show her these lands, not that youth. Didn't she see that Alaron was too young for her? And way too inexperienced to know what was best for himself or others.

He rode hard along the paths in a rather breakneck speed, the horse was a good one and he let it have free reins and the horse acted as if it knew what was at stake. He had ridden for a while when he slowed the horse down, frowning. The forest felt different this night, there was a sort of anger boiling in the air, and the trees where whispering to each other, words he didn't understand. He got even more worried, the rain had reached this part of the forest too and the ground was soaking wet, the trees were moving as if there was a strong wind tearing at the branches but the air was still. Legolas was a sinda, but he was raised among the silvan and he just knew that some other force was working there this night. He had no idea of whether he would be welcome or not, if the forest would recognize a friend or treat him like a foe.

He dismounted and grasped the saddle bags and his weapons, told the horse to go home. He didn't want to risk the animal's safety. He was already soaking through and through but he didn't care. All he could think about was her, he had to find her, but how? The forest was dark and he had no idea of where she could be. The old palace was not far from where he was now but he somehow doubted that it was where she was located.

He heard a sound, a high pitched shriek that sounded a bit like fingernails against a blackboard and he winced and made a grimace. It hurt his ears and the sound wasn't one he had heard before, ever! Then he saw it, a flicker of blue light, like a small firefly dancing among the black twisting stems of ancient trees. The light was so pure and he nodded and gathered his courage. " Alright, whatever you are, I am following you!"

Glorfindel had decided to go to king Thranduils realm and Aiwendil would follow him but he had no idea of whether or not it would do any good. He had managed to convince some hawks to bring the information he had gotten to Elrond and to the healer who had alerted Elrond of Mariliel's unusual behavior. The birds had flown and he and the wizard had left the small cottage that morning. Aiwendil didn't have a horse so he was sitting behind Glorfindel and the tall ellon was cringing internally each time he felt Aiwendil leaning against his body. He feared lice, fleas and Eru alone knew what else.

He only hoped that they could do something, anything! His instincts told him this was serious, that something was happening and he spurred the horse. They had to get there in time! Aiwendil too was affected, he hadn't said much and he was deep within his own thoughts most of the time. Glorfindel wondered what that guardian was, but he feared that the wizard would keep his mouth shut. It would take them days to reach the borders of the forest land, and that was if nothing delayed them. He only hoped that Elrond got the message, perhaps there was something the healer could do, some advice that could be given. He had no idea of what they could do to avoid a disaster.

She was floating, hovering within an empty void and right in front of her was a sort of shimmering wall. It looked a bit like the surface of tranquil lake but it was vertical, not horizontal. She had no idea of what this was, or where she was. The emptiness surrounding her was strangely comforting and she had no idea of how she had ended up where she was. She didn't even have an idea of what or who she was, for her mind was blank. But she heard voices, distant voices whispering. She floated in the soft darkness and tried to determine what she was supposed to feel but she couldn't even grasp onto her own emotions.

Then a figure appeared in front of her, tall and insubstantial, looking majestic and yet frightening. But she didn't sense any evil coming from the dark cloaked creature, only a sort of melancholic sadness. She knew no words, only emotions and she somehow knew this figure. He pulled the cowl covering his head down, a face more beautiful than she could ever have imagined with eyes like deep dark wells filled with the reflections of distant stars was suddenly visible. She stared in awe, unable to fathom what she was seeing. The figure moved closer, his eyes were so sad and so filled with pity and yet they were stern, like those of a worried parent eager to coax a beloved child back onto the right track.

"Child, I have waited for you, you were taken from me and now you are yet again waiting before my gate."

She felt her mouth go dry, she knew he spoke the truth, and she somehow wanted to go to him. She would be safe there, she just knew it. He cocked his head. " But I am afraid I cannot let you enter now, your life has become entangled with the fate of others. If I let you enter others will follow you, souls which will be important later on. I pity you child but you will have to live."

She didn't understand, what was this? Why was he saying this? He continued. " Your mind has been locked, the memories hidden from your view. That will have to change now, you must face what was to be able to move on. It might bring you to me again, and if that happens there will be no rescue. Then I must claim you, and the fate of many will be changed. "

She felt scared, for the first time. She didn't know why. The tall creature smiled, a very soft and sad smile. " If you accept what you feel, and open your heart you will live. If you deny the truth within your heart you will die. There is no other way. "

She felt everything topple over. She was staring down yet again, at the shimmering surface and now she saw a little girl in a meadow of flowers. Her long red hair dancing in the wind and she was chasing a butterfly, her laughter like the chiming of silver bells among the trees. She remembered this, it had been such a nice evening.

He bowed his head. The starlight eyes so full of compassion and sorrow and he reached out and touched her gently. " See little fëa, know the truth. Cleanse yourself, emerge from the ashes like a true flame, there may be happiness in your future, love and bliss. Eru wants you to live, so seek that life. Let him save you."

Suddenly she was sucked forward, merging with the figure in front of her, the child dancing over the meadow. She screamed for suddenly she knew what was to come, remembered what had happened. She wanted to be gone, but there was no way to leave, she was trapped now, and had to relive that awful moment yet again.

Namò sighed and stared at the scene in front of him. Aiwendil had messed things up seriously when he interfered, but he could not have acted differently. Eru had planned it all, before this world even was shaped. Sometimes the one was cruel, but it was always for the greater good. Namò stared down at his palm, a small flickering flame could be seen within it, pale and insubstantial and he smiled at it. It was the spark that could become a yet unborn fëa. One that was going to be created if she accepted her past and embraced her future. It was a future yet to be seen, pure and uncorrupted and he loved it this tiny spark already, as he loved all fear. He too hoped that she wouldn't enter his halls yet, for the doomsman was nothing if not understanding.

The forest was really creepy, the scents and the sounds unfamiliar and the very feel of it alien. He somehow knew that it didn't mean him any harm but he couldn't help but feeling that it could end him very easily if it wanted to. He entered a small clearing and saw for himself what the trees were capable of doing. A pile of body parts lay in the middle of the small opening, orc body parts. The orcs had to have been pulled apart with raw strength and the stench was nauseating. He gasped and tried to ignore the gruesome sight, he walked on and soon he saw huge hoof prints everywhere and bodies that seemed to have been pierced by something awfully hot for the wounds were black and scorched.

He swallowed and tried to ignore the feeling of sheer dread that rose within him, what in Eru's name was going on? He soon realized that he had entered a killing field, a slaughter house. Dead orcs lay everywhere, wargs too. And spiders, like they had dropped from the trees everywhere, most crushed or pierced and every now and then he saw some strange light moving between the trees and heard screams but he didn't want to see. He just followed that blue little speck of light and ignored everything else, fearing that he would be too late.

After what seemed like an eternity he entered a new meadow with a huge oak in the middle, it was ancient and gigantic and he wondered why he hadn't heard of this tree before. It felt like he had entered some sacred place, a temple or a shrine. He walked closer to it in awe and here he felt a sort of peace. The strange loaded atmosphere that permeated the rest of the forest wasn't present there, instead there as a sense of anticipation there. He wondered why he was there, why the light had brought him to this place. But suddenly he got aware of an opening in the huge trunk and inside of it he saw a pale figure. He let out a gasp and ran forth, he almost jumped in through the opening and saw that it was a rather large room inside of the trunk of the oak. But the moment he was inside the opening disappeared and he swore when he realized that he was trapped there.

It was Mariliel and he wondered what had happened to Alaron, had he left her? No, not even that brat was that irresponsible. Something had happened to him for sure and the bite marks on his horse made it clear that Alaron very well might be dead. Mariliel was grey and cold and barely breathing and her skin slick with sweat. He saw the wound and realized that she had been poisoned and he groaned and felt how despair grasped onto his soul. He was no healer damn it, and how was he to help her now? He grasped his saddle bags, there had to be something he could use and he was glad to see that he had remembered to pack some bandages and other medical supplies. Among them a pack of dried herbs and he let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw Athelas among them. He forced himself to act calmly, to think straight. He did notice a small trickle of water running down the inside of the tree in one spot and he gathered some of it in a wooden cup he had brought. He crushed the Athelas into the water and let it sit for a few minutes and then he realized that she was too cold and that her clothes were soaking wet. He pulled the blankets and the spare cloak out of his pack and bit his lower lip.

He would have to undress her, she would never get warm again with those wet clothes on and he seriously doubted that the oak would appreciate the use of fire. He didn't even have firewood! The memories of what he had seen in the bath returned to him and he cringed, oh Eru be merciful. He didn't need that sort of thoughts now!

Alright, there was no way around it, he started removing her soaked clothes layer by layer and she was so terribly cold, it felt like trying to undress a marble statue. She was barely alive and as soon as she was naked he got the athelas onto her wound and then he wrapped a bandage around the area to keep it there. He mixed some other herbs with water and sifted it through a piece of cloth, made her swallow some. It would ease the pain and strengthen her and he had never felt so helpless before. He could face any enemy without fear but this, this was beyond his expertise. He just wished that Aeniel had been there. She would have known what to do.

The tree protected them from the rain, at least that was a thing to be grateful about and he realized that he too was wet and cold. He had learned that people could share body heat in case of an emergency, but he had never tried before, and absolutely not with a female! But there was no way to avoid it now if he was to save her from her injuries. Her body was struggling to fight the poison from that wound, it couldn't both do that and stay warm. He sighed and stripped, laid his clothes aside in a dry spot and then he arranged the cloak that was dry underneath them and wrapped the blanket around them. He was shivering before long, Eru how cold she was and she was dead weight and felt like a corpse in his arms, but she was still breathing. He was close to tears, now he realized just how much she meant to him and it was insane for they didn't even know each other but he just knew that he couldn't go on without her, she was his one, meant to be his, to complete him. Without her he would lose his will to live and fade. It was madness but it was true, there was no way back now, not for any of them. She had to accept it, to see it. She had to live!

Aeniel felt how the forest was filled with some sort of violent energy, the rain was hammering down and the wind that sometimes tore at the trees was so cold. She felt frightened, and she did notice that the other elves felt it too. Some of the silvan had gathered and they were chanting and singing and some were obviously praying. Aeniel knew that they had a deeper connection to the woods than the sindar, they were as one with it and this was obviously something they somehow recognized. She saw that they made sure that everybody was inside, that the gates were closed.

She was about to ask one of the silvan healers what was going on when she saw that the king came walking towards the gate, he was a bit pale and he was surrounded by his personal guards and his butler plus some of the council members. All looked more than a bit upset and Aeniel bit her teeth together. Did Thranduil know that his son was out there?

He saw her and turned on his heel, headed towards her with determination in his stride and she curtseyed and tried to look calm. " They say my son rode out this afternoon?"

Aeniel nodded. " That is correct my lord, Mariliel and Alaron hadn't returned from a trip to the old palace and he got worried when Alaron's horse returned alone"

Thranduil fell silent for a few seconds. She could see that he was battling his emotions and trying to desperately find something suitable to say. " So, he has chosen to disobey me because of that …Noldo!"

The tone of his voice told of despise and anger but she could see something very different within his eyes, a deep fear for his only child and she could understand that. But why did he have so much against Mariliel? She had never done anything wrong, nor had she bothered him in any way? He could certainly not hate all noldor in such a way? "I think he was just as worried about Alaron my lord, remember, he is young and not very experienced."

One of the council members had gotten pale and Aeniel could have slapped her self, it was of course Alaron's father and he seemed beside himself with worry. " Oh Eru, my son, I have to go look for him!"

Thranduil grasped the distraught ellon by his ridiculously tall collar and flung him into the arms of two guards. " You are not going anywhere. The forest is not safe tonight, all we can do is wait!"

The council member gaped and his hands were trembling. " But he could be in danger? Or he could be dead!"

Thranduil almost sneered but Aeniel saw the fear in his eyes. " So could my son be, but I will not risk more lives in vain. We wait until tomorrow."

Aeniel managed to get her tongue under control again. " My lord, may I ask why the forest is so strange tonight?"

Thranduil sighed and he looked tired, almost haggard for some reason. Aeniel remembered that he too was deeply connected with these lands, the king and his realm was as one in many ways and she suspected that this for some reason was draining him of strength. Thranduil stared at the gate, his eyes distant. " It is something of which the avari and the silvan told us when we first came here, an ancient legend or so I thought. They had hidden within the deep woodlands since the very awakening and they had seen things we had real problems believing."

Aeniel tilted her head, the guards had pulled Alaron's father off and the other elves had returned to the halls now, the sounds of the wind and the rain on the outside was deafening by now." Such as?"

He swallowed, the gaze glazed by memories. "The hunt, they claimed that Oröme would gather his loyal beasts and hunt the monsters that the darkness had spawned. The forests would cleanse themselves of all wicked contaminant and all evil creatures would be destroyed. "

Aeniel felt a chill running down her spine, the energy out there, it was so fierce, so untamed. "Is that what is happening now my lord?"

Thranduil smiled, a swift grin but his eyes were still worried. " Maybe, I can sense power out there, great power. And I think the hunter is somehow connected to it. But I do not think it is the vala who has returned to Endore, just something of his."

Aeniel bit her lower lip. " Are they in danger?"

Thranduil looked uncertain. " I am not sure, let us hope that my son is smart enough to seek shelter. This night nobody ought to be caught out in the open."

Aeniel could just pray that they were alright, that nothing had happened to any of them. If something had she would feel so guilty!

Glorfindel and Aiwendil had ridden until darkness descended upon the land, then they made camp in a dense groove of maple trees and Glorfindel had a feeling of unease creeping into his mind. He sensed the energy coming from the area ahead of them and it made the hairs stand up at the back of his neck. Aiwendil didn't speak at all, but his eyes were fixed upon the horizon and Glorfindel didn't dare to disturb the wizard by asking any questions.

He was more than a little shocked when Aiwendil suddenly opened his mouth and started to chant. It sounded like nothing he had ever heard and for once it wasn't so hard to believe that this actually was a maia. The voice was not at all like the normal voice of the seemingly old man, it was strong and full and beautiful and also youthful. But the tune was filled with power, with magic. It made the air shiver around them, made the very fabric of time and space twist and bend and Glorfindel felt a bit nauseous. He had never felt anything like that before, not even in Gondolin. He had of course heard of the great songs of power, of the battles fought with the aid of such. He had believed it to be exaggerations but now he knew otherwise.

Aiwendil was glowing, and underneath that seemingly old body he could almost see something different, something way more powerful. He had seen maiar before, and valar too, but never like that. Never in such a display of sheer energy. What was Aiwendil doing? Glorfindel didn't dare to interrupt, he just sat there, almost hypnotized by the strange mood and the way the forest seemed to respond to the song. When the wizard did shut up he had been at it for more than a few hours and Glorfindel had laid down to rest. He was unable to sleep for the energy made his skin tingle but he did at least manage to relax a little. Aiwendil grasped his own blankets and laid down too, didn't say a word and Glorfindel sensed that he wouldn't get any answers if he asked so he accepted it and let the wizard sleep. He was sure he would get an explanation later on.

The two within the tree didn't notice the energy buzzing throughout the forest, the small cave was rather dry and the sounds were muffled. It was a bit like a world of its own, a sort of sanctuary and Legolas wondered why Mariliel had ended up there, and how! She hadn't awakened, but she had gotten a bit warmer and so had he. Their shared body heat was doing wonders and he wasn't so worried anymore. But he wanted her to wake up, wanted her to speak, to be present. It scared him that she was so silent and he often shook her gently but there was no response. He had no idea of how much time had passed by, but the cave within the tree was in some ways almost like a womb, if they emerged from this place he knew that they would be changed in some fundamental way.

He had almost fallen asleep when Mariliel started moving, her limbs jerking and she was moaning and grunting and her eyes were rolling but she wasn't conscious. She was obviously dreaming and the dream was not a pleasant one. He shook her again but she didn't wake up, she screamed and the screams were those of a child. Legolas was in despair, he had to help her, had to stop this for her suffering was beyond awful. It left him feeling so terribly alone and helpless and he held her close, sobbing and begging her to wake up.

She trembled, keened, the body writhing in what could only be described as agony and he knew that it wasn't the poison, the Athelas had purged that from her body already. This was something different, something not physical and Legolas suddenly knew what he had to do. He was rather young still, not at all as powerful as his father or Galadriel but all elves have the ability to speak from one mind to the other or share images and thoughts that way. He gathered his courage, whispered some words of prayer and then he closed his eyes and let his fëa soar towards hers, and he let himself merge with her, saw everything through her eyes. And what he saw made him sick.

She had been told not to go near the river, and so she didn't. As all elven children she was way smarter than a human child of her age and she did understand why the river was dangerous. Her mother had been very strict when it came to that and Mariliel didn't doubt that her mother was serious. So she stayed as far away from the river as she could and played in the forest near the village. Sometimes she would play with the other elflings there but this evening she was alone. The others were helping their mother's gather herbs or doing chores and she was yet too young to be of much help. So she went chasing butterflies instead, and had a good time running over the meadow, pretending as if the butterflies were fairies.

Mariliel was a protected child, and she knew little of the dangers of the world. Of course she knew that the river was dangerous, and that she shouldn't climb trees which were too tall in case she'd fall down. She knew what an orc was and she knew that some creatures were bad, but she had no way of knowing that these things were going to affect her in person. To her it was just stories, scary tales indeed but nothing more than that, stories. Sometimes she had seen humans, some travelers would visit the village to trade and she thought they looked a bit weird but she wasn't afraid of them and they seemed friendly enough. One human had even given her a nice necklace made from sea shells and told her it came from the coast. Mariliel had never seen the ocean, only the woods of her home and she had a hard time imagining a lake so large you couldn't see the other shore.

Her ada had told her of the ocean though, of the land on the other side where so many of their people lived and she had sort of liked that idea until she realized that those who went there never returned. She liked her home, no matter how nice that other place was. This was where she belonged and she wouldn't go away ever. The forest was calm that day, and warm and the sunlight was creating beams of light through the canopy and she ran around trying to catch them too. She had no idea her laughter had drawn the attention of someone else.

She did notice the human rather suddenly and gasped, she didn't get scared for she had no reason to fear him and humans were just like elves weren't they? They got old but otherwise from that they were okay. The man sat on a log and he appeared to be tired and he wore a ragged cloak and he was a bit dirty. But she had seen some of the hunters returning from their treks through the woods and they got dirty too. She cocked her head and her curiosity won her over, she got closer to the man who smiled and nodded his head. " Hello there young one, I am just resting my weary legs."

The man looked like the other humans she had seen, and he did smell bad too. But she had learned that looks didn't matter and all humans were smelly in the eyes of an elf. She stared at him. " Have you walked far?"

She knew how to speak westron pretty well and the man smiled, he was lacking quite a few teeth and his hair was unkempt and dirty. She didn't understand how anyone could let themselves become so dirty? He nodded. " Yes, very far, I am heading for the coast young one"

She forgot her disgust. " The sea? Have you seen the sea?"

The man grinned. " Oh, many times. I used to be a sailor you see, onboard a ship."

Mariliel bit her lip. " Those big boats?"

He nodded again and she noticed that he stared at her, that made her a bit uncomfortable but then again, she was used to it. Humans always stared at elves for some reason. "Aye, big boats indeed. And what is your name little one? My name is Oran."

Mariliel told him her name, proudly, she was very proud of her name and he smiled and said it was very pretty. She practically beamed. Oran stretched his legs and she saw that he had only very bad boots on, he had to be poor. "Don't you humans ever bathe?"

Oran laughed and pulled at his tattered cloak. " Oh we do, but we cannot bathe in cold water like you elves can, we would get sick. "

Mariliel tried to look smart. " Of course."

She didn't know what it meant to be sick but she had understood that it was something bad and very uncomfortable. Oran still smiled, there was something odd in his eyes, something she didn't recognize. Nobody had ever looked at her like that? " Tell me, are you here all alone? That is not safe you know? What if orcs came and abducted you?"

Mariliel giggled. " There are no orcs here, the forest would warn us, and the warriors are protecting our borders. I am chasing butterflies, do you do that?"

Oran snickered. " I am not a child little one, so no, I do not chase butterflies anymore. That is for you young and agile ones."

Mariliel was staring at the man's beard, it looked funny. No elf had beards and she had heard that dwarves had a lot of it, even the ladies. "That is odd!"

He grinned. " You think so? You elves don't have hair in your face now do you, we think you all look strange too"

Mariliel cringed her nose. " No we don't. Does that itch?"

Oran tilted his head a bit. " Only when it is starting to grow. You can touch it if you like?"

Mariliel hesitated, something within her told her this was something she shouldn't do but he did allow it so why not? She was so curious.

She reached out and touched his chin, the hairs were coarse and thick and greasy too. "It is like the hairs of a horse!"

He nodded. " Maybe, I have heard that elves don't have hair at all on their bodies. Like a child."

Mariliel frowned. " Well, I guess a little, but only the adults."

The man smiled, but his eyes were so weird again, and he was breathing in a funny way too. Was he ill perhaps? "We humans have a lot of hair, that is just the way that we are."

She stared at him, felt a bit nervous now. " Are you sick? You are breathing so funny?"

He made a grimace and she didn't notice the sly expression within his eyes. " Oh aye little one, a bit unwell yes. I think I need some water, is there a river or a brook somewhere here?"

Mariliel pointed towards the river. " In that direction, it is not far"

He put a hand over his face for a moment and shook his head. " Could you show me little one, I feel a bit dizzy and I do not want to get lost."

Mariliel bit her lower lip. " I am not allowed to go to the river…"

Oran nodded. " Of course you are not allowed near the river, it can be very dangerous for such little ones, but it is not dangerous when you are with an adult now is it? I am sure it is alright. I just need some water."

She hesitated, then she grasped his hand and he followed her, stumbling as if he was drunk, and there was a strange smell coming off of him, like that of a billy goat?

The sound of the river was rather loud, there was a small waterfall a bit further down stream and the waters were running white. He got to the shore and drank and Mariliel felt uncertain of what she ought to do now. She should return to the meadow, before anyone saw that she wasn't there.

Oran sat down on a rock and took something out of his pocket, it was some sort of carved figure and it looked like a cat that was stretching itself. "Here, do you want to take a look at this? It is very nice."

He held it out and she got closer and took it, it was really very nice, and made from some sort of very dark wood, carefully polished and oiled. " It is pretty"

He smiled. " Yes it is, just like you. I had a little girl many years ago, and she looked a lot like you. "

Mariliel tilted her head, didn't quite understand. " Oh, is she an adult too now?"

He shook his head. "No little one, she got sick and died. I miss her a lot"

Mariliel felt sorry for him, she really did but somehow she sensed that something was wrong, he was still staring at her and breathing hard and she put the small figure back into his hand. "I think I have to go now."

Oran sighed. " Oh but I thought we were friends little one? Come here, let me tell you a story, just like I used to tell my daughter stories? I know a lot of scary ones!"

Mariliel loved stories, and she was always so happy when her ada had time to tell her tales of the things he saw in the woods. "Really?"

He smiled again, those teeth were really bad but she knew that humans often had bad teeth. "Oh yes, sit here on my knee and I will tell you a tale about a terrible troll!"

Mariliel giggled and nodded and he put her up on his knee, laid his hand on her back and she felt nervous again. It didn't feel as it should, when her father held her like that it felt safe, but this man's touch made her skin crawl. Oran was almost panting and she started to get worried that he was really ill. "I have never seen a troll?"

Oran adjusted his cloak or something, he looked funny and was sweating. " I am sure you haven't, but this is a troll who used to lure fair maidens out into the woods and seduce them"

Mariliel tried to ignore the odd feeling she had of something being terribly wrong, she had been brought up to be polite and to obey the adults and yet she felt a need to bolt and run. "What does that word mean? Seduce?"

Oran ran his hand down her back, up and down and it was shaking badly. " Oh don't you know that? Your mother should have explained that to you. The troll did the things that your parents did to have you."

Mariliel frowned. " Bonded?"

Oran nodded. " Yes, he bonded with those fair maidens, physically."

Mariliel was a bit confused, she knew that her parents sometimes did something odd when they thought she was asleep and they made strange noises and she somehow understood that it had something to do with the fact that they were bonded but she couldn't quite understand the details. " I don't understand?"

Oran was sweating even more. " You are a child little one, of course you don't understand, but let me explain it to you."

He kept stroking her back and she saw that he had put his other hand into his pants, underneath the cloak, and it was moving too. She swallowed, what was this?

Oran's voice was hoarse" You see, when someone bonds like that the male puts his male parts into the female and then they are as one and it brings great joy to both"

Mariliel looked a bit disgusted and a bit shocked too. " Ha?"

She had seen that the male elflings were different from the females and she had just accepted that, she hadn't ever questioned it. It was just the way it was. Oran nodded. " Yes, we males have something you females don't, and we use that when we bond."

She winced. " But the troll?"

She wanted him to tell the story, not speak of these things for it didn't feel right. " The troll can wait, do you want to see?"

He was staring again, his eyes dark and that hand was moving and she started to feel scared. What was going on.? " No, let me go, I have to get back to nana before she gets worried"

Oran sneered, the gentle smile was gone. " You are to watch I am telling you, then you can go, do you want to be a disobedient brat?!"

She shook her head but she felt tears pushing forth, no adult had ever talked to her like that, with such a harsh voice. " N…no, but…I want my nana!"

He had grasped onto her braid, and held her there and pulled his cloak aside. Mariliel gasped and tried to get out of his grip but it was so hard, like a vice. She stared at the thing sticking out of his pants, it was long and thick and twitching and there was hair around it and it looked absolutely disgusting with a top that reminded her a bit of a mushroom but it was dark red with veins and it throbbed. She sobbed. " Let go of me, please. "

Oran grasped onto her dress and pulled it up underneath her armpits. She shrieked and he grinned. " No point in screaming little one, nobody can hear you here, the waterfall is too loud, not even your pointy eared little friends. This can do a magic trick you see, and I will show you so watch or I will strangle you with your braid!"

Mariliel was terrified, frozen with shock. The grip he now had around her neck hurt terribly and she was crying now. He started rubbing his hand up and down that ugly looking stiff thing and it was nothing at all like the ones she had seen the little boys had. He grunted and moaned and she saw that something kept oozing out of the hole at the top of it and suddenly he let out a strange sound and that thing jerked and since her dress was pulled up she felt how hot drops of sticky liquid spurted out over her skin several times. She had never felt anything that nasty ever and she keened and tried to break free but he used his hand and smeared that disgusting terrible goo all over her and then he pushed a hand down between her legs. It hurt, he was groping her and she screamed and suddenly he tossed her down onto the grass and pulled some string from his pockets, tied her arms to two small trees. She couldn't go anywhere, he pulled the dress off of her and his hands were everywhere, this was wrong, it was so wrong, it was terrible and she screamed for her nana but nobody came and he pulled his pants down and grinned, a terrible grin that made her realize that this was a very bad person, that this was what her nana had told her about when she described things that were evil. " And now little one, I will show you how adults love each other."

Legolas saw it all, saw how that awful human deliberately brought her to somewhere where nobody would hear her screams, how he used the child's innocence and trust against her to please his own sick need. He wept, tears flowing down his cheeks and he was shaking all over, but there was no way back now. He had to stay with her, to go through it all with her and share the whole horrible experience. If she ever was to survive these memories he had to carry the burden with her, otherwise she would be lost, and then so would he. So he embraced her and forced himself to endure what nobody ever ought to experience.


	8. Bring me to life

**Chapter Eight: Bring me to life…**

The elves of Mirkwood knew that they had to stay indoors now, they all felt it in the air and gathered around the hearths, remembering the days of old. Elflings stayed close to their mothers and the youths tried to appear nonchalant but failed. The energy they felt in the wind that night was stunning.

Thranduil was worried for his son, and he couldn't hide it. He tried yes, but even a blind could see the fear in him. He couldn't blame Legolas for riding out, after all, it was his own fault for having made that stupid plan in the first place. Now he did regret it a lot but he couldn't tell anyone, and it tore at him. He missed his wife more than ever, she had owned a heck of a lot more common sense than he had, and she would have solved this way easier too. He listened to the wind and knew that the forest this night was alive in a whole new way, that the trees had awakened. Why this happened now was a huge question though, could it have something to do with Mariliel? He hoped not, he had sort of liked her even though he couldn't say he knew her at all. He just hoped that they all were okay. Alaron's father had been beside himself and had to be sedated by the healers and Thranduil knew that only his long experience and ability to hide his emotions stopped him from having a breakdown too. He spun his goblet in his hands, staring into the dark halls. His son had to return to him, or else there would be nothing left for him to live for.

The deep of the forest was a terrible place this night, the trees were moving, branches swinging back and forth, roots shooting through the air like vines with a wicked mind of their own and the orcs were obliterated. The huge black animal seemed to be everywhere, its glowing horn piercing orcs and wargs and everywhere it went the forest awakened and threw away the spider webs, and the rot and disease. The very air changed, the darkness of the woods disappeared, the spell upon it lifted and the dark creature even stopped to dip its horn in the enchanted river once, and the water immediately ran pure again.

The noise was deafening, a chorus of groaning, grinding and snapping sounds and the entire canopy moved like an ocean in a strong hurricane. It spread in rings outwards, increased in strength by the minute and a weird green glow seemed to shine through the branches. The creature whinnied in triumph as more orcs were hunted down and destroyed, their bodies absorbed by the forest the moment they fell. The woods reclaimed what had been taken from them now. The hunter would be pleased, this was what he wanted. And the lady of the woods would like this too, she too had given her orders and now they were waiting for the ancient prophecy to come true.

What had been a horse knew everything about it, the woods needed a champion, a protector and he would guard this area until that soul was ready for its task. The lady favored this land and these elves, and she didn't want this land to be ruined like so many others had. Even when the time of men came and they took over this world there would be an oasis left, guarded and tended by the heir of Yavanna. Now they could only wait.

Legolas was shivering, he felt it all through her, it was an alien sensation but one he could identify with since they souls were connected. The human had gotten on top of the small elfling, had groped and kissed and licked and Mariliel had been wailing in fear and disgust. Her confusion only spurred the sick beast on, it was her innocence that was the greatest turn on for him, the fact that she didn't know what he was doing. Human children rarely were that innocent, they quickly learned the facts of life but elflings were protected and allowed to be children for far longer than them.

Then he had taken her, brutally and with force. It was hard to understand that it was physically possible for an adult male to actually penetrate someone that small but he had, with glee and pleasure and Mariliel had screamed in absolute agony and horror as the vile human forced his way into her way too small body and literally tore her apart. The pain and the shock became too much, she passed out and the woodelf sort of hovered in nothing with her, waiting for something to happen. And something did happen indeed, he saw how a seemingly old man with a staff appeared, how he killed the human and how he saved Mariliel. Legolas even saw his conversation with the doomsman and felt how a cold chill ran down his spine. She had been so close to death, and what now?

How was he to save her? Her true love may bind her to Arda they had said, he had to try to make her realize that she was his one, that he was hers too. It was the only way, she had to cleanse herself of her past now and become born anew. He had to be there for her, support her and strengthen her and it was a task that scared him witless and yet he couldn't hesitate. He kept holding her, kept whispering soft endearments in her ear, fighting to keep her warm and alive. He was so afraid, the tree was keeping them prisoners and what if nobody found them? The rain would destroy all tracks and he had no idea where he actually was, the woods were vast and he didn't think even their best trackers could find him now.

There had to be some way to escape this tree, he just hoped that it would let them go as soon as the woods calmed down again. He had no idea of what was going on, but he sort of knew that it was something grand and dangerous and wonderful all at once. Mariliel was shaking, the memories had ripped through her soul like a piercing blade and her soul were trying to overcome the terrible shock of remembering what the human had done to her. It made her very being shriek with horror, writhe in disgust and shame and her soul sought the darkness that was death but something was holding her back.

She felt it, a presence, insistent and calming and yet there was fear and frantic hope. She tried to resist the light that was tugging her back to a conscious state but she was too weak, too confused and shaken. She opened her eyes with a wail, felt a warm body next to her own and panic overtook her. She went completely rigid with fear and she almost passed out again, not again, not again, never again.

He felt her tense up, heard her scream and to him it felt as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest. It was so terrible, and he realized that she was scared of him, that she didn't know who he was. " Mariliel, Mariliel, it is me, Legolas, shhhhh, it is alright, you are safe, you are safe."

She made a weird sound, he gently turned her around and she saw his face and blinked, her face pale with fear and shock and her eyes enormous. "L…Legolas?!"

He nodded, wrapped the blanket tighter around her. "Yes, I am here, I found you. Alaron's horse returned without a rider and I went out to go looking and found you in this tree"

She gasped, made a rasping ugly sound and her eyes rolled in her head. " Alaron is dead!"

Legolas swallowed hard, it didn't really surprise him. " I am so sorry, what happened?"

She tried to gather her thoughts, her mind was reeling and she felt numb, almost cold. "He got bitten by a snake, in the ruins, I hid his body and then there were orcs, and my horse wasn't a horse at all and he left me here and…"

Legolas bit his lower lip, Alaron had been a nice young ellon and even if he had been a rival the prince did truly mourn him. " That is terrible Mariliel, but you are safe here, I will protect you."

She keened. " Why?! Why do you want to be here with me, I am filth, worthless. You have no idea of what have happened to me. "

He held onto her, felt her tremble and saw the self loathing in her eyes. " I know Mariliel, I saw it all through you. I saw what the monster did to you!"

She stared at him, pale as a ghost. " Oh Eru, then you know…You have to let me go Legolas, I…I am ruined, tainted. "

He shook his head, violently. " No, you are not ruined, a wizard healed you, you are whole and beautiful and pure. Do not say those words for they are untrue."

She shook her head again, tried to get away from his embrace but she couldn't. He was too strong and she felt that this embrace was different, there was no danger there, nothing lewd about it at all. "But I am, why do you help me? I thought you didn't even like me!"

Legolas knew he had to be honest. " I didn't, but then I realized that I did, and now, now I know that you are more precious to me than anything else. "

She scoffed. " You are mad, you cannot be serious. I am no longer worthy of your attention my prince. I am better off dead!"

He whimpered. "Then this tree will be our grave for if you die so will I Mariliel. You are my one, open your heart and listen and you will know I speak the truth. There is no denying it"

She sobbed. " But you cannot love me, I do not think I can love someone back, not after…not after that which happened."

He rocked her in his arms. " I do nonetheless, can't you see the truth Mariliel? We are meant for each other. I will never let you down and I will never force you to do anything you don't want to do. I swear."

She closed her eyes, tears were stinging her face. "That matters little, I cannot forget it, not now, not anymore! It will ruin you if you insist staying with me, can't you see this? I cannot be with you, I am nobody and you, you are the kings heir damn it!"

He shook his head, tried to calm her down, didn't really know what to do.

"Do not think about that, forget about it. What matters is what your soul tells you, you have got to hear it too? Our souls sing in harmony, they are as one"

Mariliel hid her face with her hands, they were shaking. " Could you really accept being bonded with someone who is as…as…traumatized as me. I am weak my prince, just a scholar and really a no-body in every way."

He tried to make her remove her hands again, tried to make her look at him. " But I am strong Mariliel, I can be strong for the both of us. I do not care about your past. It is the future that matters, and it will be wonderful if you only allow yourself to believe."

She sniffed and didn't answer and he felt his heart hammering hard within his chest. "There is yet light, and hope. I know what the doomsman was saying Mariliel, your true love may save you, and that is me, that has to be me, and I refuse to let go of you. I refuse to let that monster kill you twice!"

She sighed and let her hands run through a lock of his hair, it was like liquid silk against her skin and she wondered how anyone as perfect as Legolas could care about her? And he even knew, knew of that horrible day which had forever changed her. Now she knew why she always had carried that strange fear within, why she had such a strange and unpredictable behavior and why she had reacted with panic each time some ellon tried to touch her. It all made sense and she broke down into tears once more. What she really wanted was to just let go, leave everything behind and be welcomed in the halls but some part of her knew that he spoke the truth. He would die too and she couldn't bare to think of having been responsible for such tragedy. But she had no idea of what to do now.

Elrond was sitting in his study, he had felt a sort of unease that day and he was eagerly awaiting any news from Glorfindel. He was very worried about Mariliel and he sort of blamed himself for the whole mess. He shouldn't have suggested her in the first place, there were plenty of other single ellith in the valley and most of them were very beautiful too. But he had wanted to show the world how special and unique Mariliel was, he was proud of her as if she had been his own daughter and he had been so sure that she could become an excellent princess. Now he knew that something had happened to her, something he had overseen and he felt so terribly guilty. And what that healer had written hadn't exactly made things any easier. He had opened a book about the building of Gondolin, why he had no idea. He had just grabbed a book and tried to read but the words were dancing in front of his eyes like an upset hive of bees.

He sighed and put the darn thing down, he would never learn how the foundations for the great fountains were laid out or how the structures of the towers were erected, and why did he really bother trying? He was a healer, not a mason damn it. The air felt heavy this evening and the skies were dark, there was a sort of electricity in the air and he swallowed and got up, paced back and forth across the floors, trying to determine what to do. There had to be something he could do to keep his mind occupied? Taking a walk to the healing ward to check up on his patients? No, the other healers would think that he was checking up on their work and he didn't want anyone to believe that he wasn't satisfied with their efforts. Taking a ride? Nope, not in this weather, the wind told him a rather nasty storm was coming and he didn't want to be caught out in it.

He bit his teeth together, he had a few books about healing he ought to have read but his mind just wasn't into it. He couldn't stop thinking about Mariliel, what had happened to her back then? He knew what he suspected but that was impossible, most elves wouldn't survive being raped. She had been a child and thus even more vulnerable, but if Aiwendil indeed had done something? He sighed and stared out at the dark landscape, a few lights could be seen and he just prayed that the valar were with her.

He almost jumped out of his own skin when there was a very loud and hard knock on the door, he hadn't anticipated it and since he was in a rather fragile state he actually let out a small shriek before he managed to get himself together and went over to open the door. It was Elrohir, he stood there with a bird on his arm and the poor creature was soaking wet and thoroughly pissed off by the looks of it. He couldn't even recognize the species and the bird shook itself and sprayed both elves with a mix of water and feathers. " Ada, this bird arrived just minutes ago, with a message from Glorfindel"

Elrond took a deep breath and grasped the note his son gave him, it wasn't large and it was covered with the warriors neat handwriting. Elrohir looked a bit nervous too and Elrond brought the note inside, stood by one of the lamps. He let out a small gasp when he realized what it was that Aiwendil had seen, and what he had done. Elrohir looked as if he anticipated his father's imminent collapse but Elrond managed to stay in control of himself. The note said that a message also had been sent for the healer in Thranduil's palace and Elrond tried to think, to find a plan. She was bound to remember now, she was no longer under the influence of his ring, and that could spell disaster.

Elrohir swallowed. "Ada? What is the matter?"

Elrond forced himself to breathe steadily, to think with a calm mind. "Glorfindel has discovered what happened to Mariliel son, and what Aiwendil did too. I have to go to her Elrohir, if the worst happens I may be able to save her."

Elrohir looked a bit shocked. " Not tonight? The forest is strange now, I have never felt anything like it, ever!"

Elrond nodded. " I know, neither have I believe me. Something is happening and I fear it but as soon as the weather gets better I have to go. "

Elrohir nodded. "Then I will join you ada, and I bet Elladan will go too."

The healer didn't protest, his sons were just as fond of Mariliel as himself and he knew that Arwen too would be terribly upset and sad if something happened to her. "Then make sure that the stable workers are notified and that weapons and equipment is prepared."

Elrohir bowed and left and Elrond stared at the note with shivering hands. The poor elleth had been molested, and then ripped out of the arms of Namo himself, no wonder she had acted so strangely at times. He could just hope that the healer over in the great wood could do something if the need should arise. If Mariliel did remember without anybody there to support her she wouldn't make it. Even he understood that.

In the tree silence had fallen, a rather heavy and awkward silence filled with tension. Legolas just didn't know what to do, what to say to make her see the truth. Mariliel was constantly battling her re-awakened memories and she was shaking and wailing and sometimes she was clawing at him to get him away from her but there were no way to go. The room they had was very limited to say the least and he started to worry about their chances if the tree didn't let them out. The very air in there seemed heavy and it was filled with a scent of ancient wood and something raw and musky. It had to be the glowing mushrooms.

They didn't have much food, little water and Mariliel was too deep in shock to move much. An elf can survive for a very long time without food or water but he knew that she was weakened already and way too eager to just let herself drift away. He was trying to keep her warm and after a while her strength was so spent she no longer moved, she just lay there, making weird sounds. Outside they could both hear the storm and some other sounds too, it made Mariliel tremble and Legolas was scared too but he didn't show it. He had to stay strong for her, he had to keep her from fading away.

She was sobbing and he just held her like he would have held a child and rocked her gently in his arms, she was in a state of apathy now and he tried to come up with something to say. "I…you do remember your parents yes?"

Mariliel nodded slowly, her mind sort of numb and her thoughts were so slow, so reluctant. It was as if she still felt those hands on her skin, the weight on top of her, the terrible pain and the even more terrible feeling of having been betrayed, used. "Yes, I remember"

He swallowed, realized that he just had to go with the flow. " You are lucky then, I can barely remember my mother."

She didn't really respond at all, just stared into nothing. " You see, she got killed in battle when I was just an elfling, but I remember spending weeks upon weeks afterwards, looking for her. I thought they were lying to me, that she was wounded and that they were hiding her somewhere. I searched through the entire palace so many times and in the end I just had to accept it, that she was gone forever."

Mariliel tilted her head. " What was she like?"

Her voice was but a faint whisper but he felt his heart beating faster again, she had listened to him and he had to make her keep listening. " Wonderful, I cannot really remember her face for I was too young but her eyes were soft and blue and she smelled of lavender all the time. And her hair, it was deep golden, like a sunrise over the forest. My ada loved her hair, I remember that."

Mariliel had curled up, still shivering. " Your father, he is so cold, so controlled."

Legolas nodded, let his fingers run through her hair and she didn't seem to mind, or maybe she just didn't notice anymore. "Yes, but he wasn't always thus, I remember him being so different before she died, he would laugh a lot and smile a lot too, and he was very affectionate."

Mariliel let out a small scoff. " Hard to believe that now, he is the least affectionate person I have ever met"

Legolas was thinking hard, and fast. He had to keep her occupied, keep her thinking of something else than this situation. " Oh then you haven't met any of the really old sindar, those who followed my grandfather out of Doriath after its fall. Ada always claims that they move and act as if they have got a broomstick stuck up their ass and I wouldn't swear that they don't"

Mariliel made a sound that may have been the start of a giggle. " There were some rather strict and pious noldor in Imladris years ago, I remember them still. They have sailed now but all the elflings were terrified of them, for they were so serious and they never smiled."

Legolas pulled the blankets tighter around them. "Know what? I and some other elflings played some terrible pranks on those old sindar."

She turned her head around, her eyes were still a bit distant but there was at least a small spark of interest in her voice. " Really? Elrond's sons are infamous for pranking, they are feared by everybody. What did you do?"

Legolas snuggled up closer to her, shared his body heat with her and she accepted it. "Well, there was this one time when we poured honey into their boots. It was a sticky mess I tell you. And then, then I remember one time when I and two of my friends found a whole bunch of frogs and salamanders and lizards and put them into the bed of one of ada's counsellors. The poor ellon almost shat himself!"

Mariliel did giggle this time. " Oh, that was a new one, not even the twins have done something like that! What happened afterwards?"

Legolas pretended to be in deep thought. " Oh, let me see, well, my friends were grounded for two months and I was dragged by my ear into my father's office and there he gave me a huge candybar and laughed so hard he almost fell over. He didn't like that counsellor a bit and thought it was grand. "

Mariliel didn't look so affected now, there was wonder in her eyes. " Really? He didn't spank you?"

Legolas shook his head. " Oh no, he would never hurt me, not even as punishment. There is so much people don't know about him. I was told that I from that day on was given the honorable task of getting rid of bothersome counsellors and courtiers and I must proudly announce that I have done my very best up to now!"

She stared at him with huge eyes. " You have?! Oh Eru, I never thought that a prince could do such things, I mean, prank others"

He grinned. " I am the true champion of pranks in these parts, only surpassed by my own father of course, the things he did in his youth…"

She had gotten curious, she knew so little of the royals of this realm and it was interesting, even in her sorry state. " Tell me, what did he do?"

The idea of the ice cold and stone faced king pulling pranks was just unbelievable but she somehow knew that Legolas wouldn't lie to her. He giggled. " Oh, the worst prank he pulled was when he was very young, and I guess he didn't know any better. He hid the king's necklace on top of his throne and everybody was looking for the darn thing for a week before a cleaning maiden found it."

Mariliel gasped. "He hid Thingol's necklace?!"

Legolas nodded with a proud grin. " Indeed he did, if that thing had gone missing forever I guess many things would have been different by now. And then he did some rather awesome pranks when grand dad had built his first palace at Amon lanc."

He tried to keep her interest up, tried to lure her away from her depressed state and she was relaxing against him now, he could feel it. "Like what?"

Legolas had a fond smile on his face. " Well, he and Galion were almost like brothers back then I have been told, and they did everything together. They sent fake notes to other elves and made them show up in awkward places for the most peculiar reasons and one time they poured some sort of powder into the laundry so everybody got a rash and the healers were beside themselves with confusion."

Mariliel just gaped, she wouldn't have believed this at all if it hadn't been Legolas who told her. The haughty and oh so correct king of the realm acting like some ordinary youth? "That is rather horrible!"

Legolas nodded. " But not as horrible as the prank they played on some ladies who were trying to talk and charm their way into grand father's bed. I didn't believe it when Galion told me but it is true, all of it. "

Mariliel was listening it his deep soft voice, could feel the wonderful warmth coming from him and she felt safe now, why she didn't know. " What did he do?"

Legolas had moved and now she laid with her head on his shoulder and she didn't react to the closeness at all. She was too intrigued by what he told her, her inquisitive mind was onto its old track, always seeking new information and this she couldn't ignore, it was too precious for that. He sort of sighed and then he pulled her a little closer. " The palace was made from stone, but also wood and they were redecorating a wing of it. The floors were being changed for the original boards had been too weak and new ones were needed. Ada and Galion managed to get some huge barrels of mud and somehow they got them into the basement without anyone noticing. Then they got the ladies to show up in the old hall, believing that the king himself had ordered them to come and since the floorboards were replaced with temporary ones which were very thin all of the ladies fell through the floor and into the mud barrels. "

Mariliel hiccupped, then she stared at him with huge eyes. " Oh Eru's mercy, they did? What happened?"

Legolas laughed. " According to Galion Oropher showed up, told them that there was no point in digging for gold in the mud and then he left them there to get out on their own. Ada was ordered to train with the veterans for a year, which wasn't really a punishment at all since he loved it, and none of the ladies of the court tried to seduce grand father again."

Mariliel pouted. " Sounds like your father got away with almost everything he did?"

Legolas nodded. " As have I, I guess we are a bit soft when it comes to our own family, it is in the blood."

She yawned and listened to the wind outside. " Is it day or night now? I have no idea, but I am tired. "

He bit his lower lip. " So am I, should we try to sleep a little?"

She was really sleepy, hadn't noticed until now, it had to be the enormous emotional rollercoaster ride she had been on, it had drained her of strength and she yawned again, couldn't stop it. " Yes, I think I need it. It cannot hurt now can it?"

Legolas smiled and caressed her cheek. " No, not at all. I think we need to rest, I have no idea of where we are, and for how long this tree will keep us here. "

Mariliel was already dozing and he was afraid of her relapsing but she was just falling asleep, she wasn't dying and he let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't out of the woods by far but safe for now, unless she of course started having nightmares or something. He whispered a quiet prayer to the valar before he too allowed himself to drift off, they had to protect them both now, he could do nothing but hope and wait.

The huge black creature had run through the woods for hours, and if there were any orcs left they were probably scared witless and hiding in some hole. It mattered not, for they were scattered and their strength spent. Now the woods were changing yet again, turning its attention towards the source of the contamination. The black stallion had followed its masters orders and this final obstacle was left, to get rid of it now would mean that future events would be avoided, that things would go more smoothly and there would be one enemy stronghold less to fear. She had promised that things would change from now on, as soon as the promised one came into being, the woods would be protected and this was one stain of evil it sought to rid itself of.

The hill of sorcery it now was called, once upon a time the first king of the realm had built his palace there but had left it and now darkness and wickedness seemed to ooze from the place like blood out of an open wound. The spiders originated from this place, so did the orcs and a strong spell lay over the place, concealing its true nature. To everybody passing by it looked just like another ruin but it was far from the truth. Soon an ancient enemy would come to this place, use it as a bridgehead and force the elves of the great wood into a state of constant battles. It had to be avoided, history would be changed but for the better.

The creature stopped, stared at the hill with the ragged ruins and it snorted in disgust. This was like an infected boil, it would spread its rot and disease until it was brought down and it would be, soon. The forest seemed to hold its breath, to wait in a sort of loaded anticipation. The final participant of this was yet to arrive, now they were waiting.

Glorfindel had never felt anything like this, the forest was alive in a way he had never imagined possible and he was in fact scared. Aiwendil had forced them to continue riding after a short rest and the skies were so dark it was hard to tell if it was night or day. Now Aiwendil was leading them into the forest and he seemed to have a goal too, and it was not the palace of Thranduil. The wizard was heading due east it seemed and Glorfindel was confused but also filled with awe. The forest seemed to open up in front of them, to let them through and Glorfindel was in awe of the wizards calm for he was shaking all over. The horse was running very swiftly now, almost as if it was given extra strength by something and he knew they had covered more ground than normally possible in a short time.

He gathered his courage, tried to smile. " Where are we heading now?"

The wizards eyes were unusually hard, a determined expression on his usually so jolly face- "We are heading to Dol Guldur, the lady of the forests demands it gone. Things are about to change"

Glorfindel swallowed hard and swore to himself, he had never believed that he would have to go to that cursed place and he couldn't say that he liked the idea. No, not at all!

Mariliel had feared that she would dream, and remember again. But the dream she suddenly sort of got sucked into wasn't at all what she had anticipated. She was suddenly walking across a glade in bright sunlight and around her the scents and sounds of summer were at their strongest. It was such a tranquil scene and she felt at ease, safe even. She stopped by a small brook, the water was clean and pure and some trout disappeared into the shadows as she approached. Then she was sort of outside of herself again, staring down at her own body as she sat down and put her feet into the cool water. She looked happy, and radiant. What was this?

She sat there for a little and then there were loud voices and two elflings came rushing into the clearing, both carrying a lot of flowers in their arms. They were laughing and giggling and they threw the flowers down beside her. " Look nana, look what we found!"

She stared down with huge eyes, nana? Was these her children? Both had beautiful hair with a deep golden red color and bright blue eyes and she watched herself hug them both, laughing. " Then sit down you rascals and help me make those garlands before your father and brother come back."

Mariliel swallowed, three children? That was rather amazing and she suddenly felt a sort of hunger, of possessiveness and want. She had never been one to covet the ordinary life of others, but now she did. She wanted it all, but could she really hope for such a future. Then she saw Legolas walk into the clearing, bow in hand and a couple of rabbits hanging from his belt, he was disheveled and grinning like mad and behind him a young ellon, barely of age, followed. Mariliel felt a strong surge of sheer energy seeing that youth, he was so extraordinary. There was something about this elf that was just different, some deep feral connection with nature of which she had never even dreamed. It was glowing within his gaze, dancing through the very fëa of this beautiful creature with her deep red hair and sparkling green eyes. He was tall as a noldo and yet he had the facial features of a sinda and did look a bit like Thranduil in some ways although the face had sharper features. He reminded her of a wolf and the movements were so fluid, so light he seemed to be floating through the air.

Mariliel felt awe, and a weird sort of reverence, she had no idea of what this ellon was but the connection with the valar was obvious. Then the youth lifted his gaze and stared at her where she really was, in the air above the family and she felt him, knew he knew she was there. Watching them all. (Make me come into being, bring me to life)

The voice was soft and yet pleading and then the dream just ended and she felt herself gasp, almost claw at the images that were gone, desperate to get them back, to see them again. She let out a wail of sorrow and opened her eyes, stared straight into the bright blue eyes of Legolas and he looked very worried. "Mariliel, please, calm down, what is wrong, are you remembering?"

She shook her head, the vision still singing to her mind, making such lovely promises, telling of a future that could be hers, if she just dared grasping it. "No, i…I saw something Legolas, something wonderful."

He frowned, held her close and felt her heartbeat. " What then?"

She bit her lower lip, felt her face turn red and she really didn't want to say anything but felt as though she had to. " I saw our family, our future children"

He just blinked, stared at her with disbelief. " Are you serious?"

She nodded. " Yes, it was a vision, I hope. The forest was well, and we were safe."

He held his breath, felt a hope sort of surge through him like a tidal wave. " You…you said children, how many?"

Mariliel felt her cheeks still burning red, she bit her lower lip. " Three"

He let go of his breath, buried his face in her hair, she felt the warmth of him so very near and so very real. "Oh if I just dared pray for such joy"

She didn't know what to say, she knew what she had to do to accomplish what she wanted but did she dare to? Could she really just push it all behind her and go forth, let go of her past? It was a task she couldn't do unless she really wanted it and she just held onto him and knew that he would be there for her, no matter what. He accepted her in spite of everything, would cherish her and be strong for her and never let her down and she forced the feeling of sudden panic back. She had to make a choice now, and stand by it, no matter what. " I don't think praying will be enough, I think you know that"

He lifted his head, stared at her. "Huh?!"

She had to grin at his confused expression. " I mean, if one wants children there is usually certain procedures to be followed."

He blushed too, held her and she got aware of the closeness in a whole new way. It wasn't bad though, his presence felt just right, natural. " I know, but I don't think this is the place and the time to start such activities."

He let a finger run through some locks of her hair. "And I will not take advantage of you in any way, knowing what I now know about you, you will be the one to set the pace."

She nodded. " I am scared, I cannot deny it. But…we don't have to go all the way now do we? We can just kiss? For starters?"

Legolas nodded, his eyes darkening and his whole being seemed to change, to shift into a different mode. " Oh Eru Mariliel, you have no idea of what a simple kiss may unleash but like I said, you are to set the pace here. "

He was so glad she suddenly had chosen to forget about her fears and he knew why. She wanted what she had seen, yearned for it. But it couldn't be if the very foundations for that beautiful vision was false. She had to want him, for real. Not just the result of joining with him for that would not be fair to her and it wouldn't be fair to him neither. She nodded. " I know, but I want to see if I can overcome the panic, if I can feel safe with you."

He took a deep breath. "Alright then, but first a question, a rather important one. Am I allowed to court you?"

Mariliel felt her face burn with embarrassment, damn it, she was reduced to some blushing helpless thing out of a romantic fairy tale and she couldn't help it at all. " A…Yes, yes you may court me…"

He smiled, a genuine warm smile that really showed his gentle nature and kind spirit. "Wonderful, lets seal the deal then, with that kiss you spoke of."

She sort of shivered, anticipation and nervousness made her shaken to the very core but she didn't pull away as his face got closer to hers. She closed her eyes by sheer instinct and then she felt his lips touching hers, softly and very gently, barely a touch at all, and yet it make her insides do backflips and her heart chose an insane rhythm. She could feel her fëa reaching out for him and didn't try to resist it, she leaned into the kiss and it became deeper, more passionate. No longer a chaste and innocent peck, it had become a real kiss and she whimpered and felt a new sort of longing awakening within her. When they finally let go she could see that his eyes were almost black and he was breathing hard. "Mariliel, I strongly doubt that we are going to get out of here soon and your virtue will be in grave danger from now on, you are warned."

Somehow the words didn't frighten her at all, she just giggled and leaned in for another kiss. "To be honest I don't care, the only danger here is my own fear, and I intend to overcome it."

He smiled, a smile of admiration. " And thus speaks the truly brave"

He kissed her again and she relaxed into his embrace and shut everything else out, he was all that mattered, and the promise of a better future.

 **Sorry for the long wait for this update, I have been soo busy lately and had much work plus the fact that yes, Christmas is soon upon us and I had to make sure the house looks like a home and less like an orc's den. And to top it all off I have gotten tendinitis in my left arm so I have been a wee bit slow to write. But here is a new chapter and hopefully I will be able to write more soon. Have a nice day everybody and merry Christmas in advance.**


	9. Like none other

Chapter nine: Like none other…

Glorfindel was getting very nervous by now, the darkness and the weird atmosphere within the forest was eating away at his nerves and he felt as though he couldn't be sure of anything anymore. Everything was almost dreamlike, as if he was walking through some illusion. He did see it now, that the old man clad in worn clothing really was a maia. It looked as if his disguise was becoming transparent so one could see the creature of light that waited underneath the seemingly fragile outer layer. Glorfindel was armed as always and ready for a fight but he had no idea of what they were about to face and he preferred to enter a battle prepared.

Aiwendil pointed towards some huge elms, orcs hung from the branches and they were more or less torn apart. It was a grotesque sight and the golden haired warrior took a deep breath, it looked as if the trees themselves had grasped onto the orcs and killed them. Aiwendil smiled, it was a very pleased grin with a hint of glee in it. "Tonight no dark creature is safe, this forest will be healed."

Glorfindel swallowed, they were getting closer to their target and he could feel a tingling sensation spreading all over him, it was unpleasant and he cringed. Aiwendil nodded towards the hill up ahead. "It tries to defend itself, but its magic is no match for the powers gathered this night. It will be obliterated."

Glorfindel caressed the hilt of his sword. "Will there be fighting?"

Aiwendil raised an eyebrow in an almost silly way. "Why do you think I brought the best warrior of all of Middle earth along?"

Glorfindel blushed but sent the wizard a swift smile in reply. "I may be good but I do not think I am the best."

Aiwendil just waved his hand. "It is of no importance now, what matters is that that abomination is removed, that the forest can recuperate and grow green once more. I bet king Thranduil will be both overwhelmed and grateful once this is over with."

Glorfindel snorted. " Oh yeah,, and I bet he will show his gratitude in his usually warm outgoing and charming way"

The wizard chuckled. " Yes, I do know that the son of Oropher may seem a bit cold and distant but believe me, he has reasons to be."

Glorfindel frowned. "Cold and distant? How about arctic? I bet the snow of the helcaraxe isn't nowhere near as frozen as that ellon. If someone was to touch his skin with their tongue it would stick!"

Aiwendil laughed. " So, I understand that you too have tried that trick right? And gotten stuck!"

Glorfindel shrugged. "When I was young, in Gondolin. One of the other warriors claimed that I wouldn't dare to lick one of the flag poles and I dared to, but it was freezing cold and I have never felt that stupid."

Aiwendil nodded. "And you learned something valuable, even bad experiences are worth remembering my friend, they are given us as an opportunity to learn."

The golden haired elf shrugged. "I do not think that Mariliel should have had to go through what she barely survived back then, nobody should. It wasn't fair."

Aiwendil tilted his head, the eyes almost glowing in the dark. " Of course it wasn't fair, it was horrible and sad. But the world isn't fair, if it was then Eru wouldn't have created Melkor before he started creating all of Arda, and his music wouldn't have been marred and everything would have been perfect. And so much more boring wouldn't you say?"

Glorfindel growled a little. " I could have done fine without that darn balrog, thank you very much!"

Aiwendil nodded solemnly. " I bet, and what did you learn from that little experience, except from how to die?"

Glorfindel just stared at the old man in disbelief. " I beg your pardon, learned from it? What could I possibly learn from being dragged to my death?"

The wizard chuckled again. "To keep your hair tied up whilst fighting!"

Glorfindel rolled his eyes, he almost hoped they could get there soon, so he could vent his frustration on some orcs!

The palace was crowded with elves by now, some of the silvan elves living close to the huge caves had arrived seeking shelter there and by now everybody knew that the forest had come alive somehow. The Avarin elves living within the great forest had gathered too, their shamans singing and letting their spirits join the very forest itself, helping it heal and fueling its wrath against the dark powers. Even inside of the great doors everybody could hear the sounds, and Thranduil was terrified and yet in a weird way excited. As the king he was closely connected to the forest and it had never felt like that before, so alive, so vibrant. He had no idea of what they would encounter whence this was over but he was sure he would be surprised.

The healer was worried too, Mariliel and Legolas hadn't returned and neither had Alaron and she sort of knew already that the young ellon no longer was among the living. She tried to keep her mind occupied with small everyday tasks but it was impossible. Just like Lord Elrond she could find no peace and struggled to control herself. She wanted to run out into the woods, searching for her friend and yet she knew that she could not. She was exhausted and sat down on a bench in the room where the healers usually made ointments and medicine. The familiar spicy scent of herbs usually calmed her down but now it only reminded her that this in some ways was her fault. She shouldn't have asked Mariliel to gather herbs, maybe they both would have returned home if she hadn't. She swore and tossed a piece of cloth used to press herbs into a corner, got up onto her feet and started pacing around the room. Her feet were hurting and yet she couldn't find any rest, she felt as if something was tearing at her, from multiple directions at once and she had no way of escaping it. She started to think that she may need to sedate herself when one of the palace guards entered the room, carrying two small pieces of parchment. "This arrived my lady, carried by a hawk."

Aeniel sighed and grasped the notes, it was written by someone with very nice handwriting and she frowned and then she gasped. She had known it! It was so darn obvious that even a blind ought to have seen the truth but she hadn't, it was just too unbelievable. Oh poor Mariliel, and what now? Could Legolas save her? What if she remembered? Aeniel just sort of collapsed, she sat down and stared at the note. What was really going on? She knew who Glorfindel was of course, who didn't, and she had met Radagast a few times and liked him but this spoke of something going on, way larger than just Mariliel and her past. Was there anyone she could confide in? Nobody would understand so she just sat there and prayed that things would be alright in spite of it all.

In the tree time went very slowly, the strange light was just as strong as before and it was impossible to say how much time had passed. Mariliel lay close to Legolas, relaxed and with a feeling of peace, and yet she had a nagging sensation within. Something was missing, there was something that wasn't right, wasn't the way it was supposed to be. She just couldn't figure out what it was. She tilted her head towards his shoulder and sighed, their kisses had been so tender at first and then it had sort of ignited a new sensation of hunger within them both and they had chosen to stop, before they did something they would regret later on. Now they just waited, and they had no idea of what they were waiting for. The tree didn't seem to allow them their freedom just yet and Legolas was starting to worry again. They had to get out of there, he was sure his father was worried sick and he wanted to see the outside world and the things he felt happened. It was in the very air and Mariliel looked as if she felt it too. It was as if tendrils of pure power were reaching for them and it made their heads spin.

Legolas didn't want to sleep again, he had slept more than enough and he was if not bored then tired of just staying there, within that tree. He had to keep Mariliel awake, and make sure that she didn't start thinking about the terrible things she now remembered. The stories about the pranks had sort of raised her mood for a while but what else could he do? Tell her fairytales? Share some of the most juicy gossip from the court? He just didn't know, so he just grasped for a straw. "Have you found some really interesting books while searching through the library?"

Mariliel turned her head, smiled. There was suddenly a spark in her eyes again and he wondered at how fast she changed from depressed and terrified to eager and open. "Yeah, I have seen a lot of really good books. They are amazing!"

Legolas held her tight. "Care to give me an example?"

She nodded. " Oh yes, which one should I chose, oh yes, now I know"

She turned a little so they were face to face. " I found a book written by the stable master of Doriath!"

Legolas scoffed. "What? Did he write a book?"

She nodded eagerly. "Indeed, and not just an ordinary book. That ellon had to be very fond of scandals and gossip for it was really meant to be a registry of all the horses of the stables and their pedigree and such things. But he had also written down almost every little rumor he had come across, from the lowliest servants to the king himself, nobody was spared."

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "That is valuable, it shows us how they were living back then"

Mariliel nodded. " Oh yes, but I think there are a lot of elves alive still who will be aghast to have that book re-emerge from the past. There is some really juicy stuff in it, and it exposes more than a few affairs"

The prince frowned. "Really? I have always thought that those first and second age elves were very pious and righteous."

Mariliel cocked her head. "You remember the books we found? They were written back then, do you think they were made by very pious and religious people?"

He shook his head. Oh those books, he didn't want to think of them, not now." No, I guess not."

Mariliel leaned against him. " I have found some books filled with poetry too, I think it must have been some noble who wrote them but to be honest that person cannot have been able to separate a poem from a list of groceries. It was terrible."

He grinned again, enjoyed the feeling of her skin against his own. "So, not all were talented and better than everybody else?"

She shrugged. "Absolutely not, I did find some diaries too. One of them belonged to a member of Elu's court, some high ranking noble. I think he may be a relative of Celeborn. He had a list of everybody he had bedded and he had graded them too."

Legolas looked at her in disbelief. "Graded them? How?"

She blushed. " Well, let us take one example, he had obviously managed to bed an elleth who was married for he had given her a three out of twelve and written that he pitted her husband in the marrow."

The prince giggled, it was really hilarious. "So, did any of that ellon's lovers get a twelve out of twelve?"

Mariliel blushed violently. " Ah, well, yes."

Legolas had grown curious. " You will have to show me that book someday. Who was it?"

Mariliel blushed even more, her face looked like a beet. " Ah, do I have to tell you?"

Legolas looked a bit confused. "Why not?"

She made a grimace. " It was a member of your family."

He gasped and blinked. "Are you serious?! Who!"

She stared down. "Your grandfather!"

Legolas burst into laughter. "Oh Eru, this is precious! Ada will demand that that book is burned and the ashes spread all over long lake. Don't mention it to him before I have read it, please!"

Mariliel sent him a shy glance. "So you aren't insulted by it?"

Legolas still laughed "Heck no, so my grandad was really a beast between the sheets, it doesn't surprise me. But I do know he was rather picky so the author must have been a very popular and fair person indeed."

Mariliel giggled and he hugged her. "Beware, it could be the kind of trait that is inherited you know"

She sent him a swift glance, both a bit shy and bold. "So you think it may be something that runs in the family?"

Legolas nodded, there was a small devil playing within his gaze. "Heck yeah, I know what sort of reputation my father used to have before he met my mother and I think the apple didn't fall that far from the tree at all."

She frowned. " I have never met an elf less frivolous than your father, he makes Erestor seem like a libertine."

Legolas nodded. " Yes, that is who he is now, but he wasn't always thus. I can barely remember anything from my first years but I do remember that he was very much in love with my mother and that losing her literally broke him. He is afraid of losing someone again, that is why he comes out as so hard and cold. "

Mariliel sighed " It is really sad, it shouldn't be like that at all."

Legolas stroked her hair. " You are of course right, but there is little anyone can do to change it. Maybe he could heal if he sailed west but I somehow doubt that he ever will. He loves this land too much."

Mariliel sighed. " I sort of understand that, the forest is so vibrant and alive. I would have a hard time leaving it behind too, if this was my home"

Legolas bit his lower lip. " Do you think you could live here, that it could become your home?"

She closed her eyes for a moment. " Yes, I think I could get used to this place, it sort of speaks to me in a way I cannot explain. And I felt welcome here the moment I arrived, but what about your father? Do you think he would accept me?"

Legolas let out a strange sound, something between a sigh and a growl. " He'd better have to, I will not let him come in between us Mariliel. I know you are a noldo, and he has some problems accepting noldorin elves but the kinslayings were ages ago. Not even he can bear a grudge forever."

She sighed and pressed her face against his throat, felt his heartbeat and his familiar scent. "I sort of know that you are speaking the truth regarding your feelings, and I know what I feel too, but is it strong enough?"

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. " It is, we are born to be together Mariliel, there is no denying it. I am strong enough for the both of us and if he dares to question the truth of our feelings I will threaten to leave."

She swallowed. " He may banish me, force me to leave"

Legolas had to think for a moment. She was right. If Thranduil didn't like the idea of Legolas being with Mariliel he could cause them serious trouble. "That is possible yes. I bet he would prefer that I marry some sindar elleth of good family."

Mariliel huffed. "Some blond thing with only embroidery and air within her head?"

He had to grin. "Exactly, the perfect wife"

Mariliel sighed. " I will never be that, a perfect wife. I cannot sew to save my life and I have no patience for cooking, and I prefer to ride my horse through the woods instead of sitting there having nice pleasant conversations about absolutely nothing of importance."

He kissed her again, with passion. "That is what I like about you, you have fire!"

Mariliel squirmed. " Indeed, but I may have too much of it."

He shook his head. "There is no such thing as too much fire. Believe me"

She held onto him like she was drowning. "But your father can separate us, no matter what we feel"

Legolas felt a surge of desperation running through him. She was right, but what if….He grasped her chin, made her look at him. " There is one easy solution to that meleth, marry me now"

She gasped and her eyes were huge. "What?"

He felt a sort of frantic energy, stared at her with eyes that were just as huge as hers. "It makes perfect sense, when we have said our vows and bonded nobody can force us apart, not even my father. A marriage bond is forever Mariliel, it is always easier to be given forgiveness than permission. Unless of course you want a huge grand wedding with many guests and lots of pomp and circumstance?"

The last words were a little nervous and Mariliel tried to cope with the concept and the idea. "Uh, no! I haven't even thought about that, I sort of believed that I never would find anyone I would want to marry so I am not one of those ellith who dream of a grand wedding."

He let out a sigh of relief. " Great, I can promise you that it will be celebrated but this is all I have to offer right now, myself and my words"

She swallowed. He was right, if they were married then nobody could question their union in any way. " I know, and that…that is enough for me"

He smiled and for a moment he was almost aglow with joy. "That is marvelous, but I have to give you a ring. Wait a minute."

He sat up and found his boot knife, braided a lock of his hair into a very tight thin braid and cut it off. Then he twisted it together into a small ring and secured it with some loose hairs and some tree sap. " There, now I can present you with a ring. It is only temporarily, I will have one made for you out of mithril and emeralds if you want to."

She frowned. "Why emeralds?"

He kissed her cheek. "Because emeralds will look amazing against your hair"

She giggled and he grasped her hand, stared into her eyes with a serious expression upon his face. " I offer you this ring as a token of my true feelings. Do you accept it?"

She nodded, felt her heart beating hard within her chest. " I accept the ring, and your offer"

He smiled and his eyes were suspiciously moist, then he slid the makeshift ring onto her finger and kissed her hand lovingly. " You just made me the most happy ellon in all of Arda, everybody will envy me"

She looked at the ring of golden hair and she found it more beautiful than any ring of gold. "So, now what?"

He kissed her forehead. " We say our vows and then we are married."

She sighed, grasped his hand. "I know that just the speaking of vows isn't enough for a marriage to be considered legitimate. It has to be consummated hasn't it?"

Legolas made a grimace. " Yes, well, the laws…"

He sighed. " You are right, if the marriage isn't consummated then it may be questioned still, even with the vows and everything, but we can wait with that. I do not want to push you Mariliel."

She looked down, found a sort of determination within she hadn't realized that she was capable of feeling. "I am not afraid Legolas, not anymore. I know you love me, and you will never hurt me intentionally."

He swallowed hard, his eyes dark. " But…do you really dare to go that far with me, this early?"

She nodded slowly. " Yes, you do want me don't you?"

He nodded his head eagerly but with a glimpse of worry within his eyes. " More than I want the air I am breathing meleth."

She gathered her courage, this felt so right, like it was something she had been meant to do from the day they first met. "Then let us make sure that he cannot question us, that he cannot break us apart."

Legolas kissed her brow lovingly. " Are you sure Mariliel? Do not feel as though you have to do this for me! I am not that kind of an ellon. I can wait for you."

She nodded. " I know, but now, all of a sudden I fear what I might lose if we don't go through with this."

He held her close. "Oh Mariliel, meleth. Do not let that fear force you into doing something before you are truly ready. I know what you went through, and I have seen your memories."

She smiled, a somewhat melancholic smile. "I know, and that is why. I have to do this while I still have the courage, while I still see what we may have. I have horrible memories yes, so please, help me create new and better ones."

He stared her deep into the eyes, swallowed. " You do truly mean this don't you?"

She smiled and put her hands up around his neck. " I do Legolas, I am not afraid, not of you."

He leaned forth ever so slightly. Kissed her gently on her lips and took her hand. " Then repeat after me."

He started whispering the words of the marriage vows while looking straight into her eyes and she didn't look away but met his gaze with a sort of naked vulnerability that truly moved him. She repeated the words and they finished together with the final words. " I wed thee, for now and forever, you have my hröa and my fëa as I have yours."

Mariliel let out a small giggle, she felt giddy, almost silly in a strange way, like she was drunk. She was married! It was unbelievable! She let him pull her closer and he kissed her, this time with considerable hunger and yet he constrained himself and didn't unleash his full passion. This time he had to stay in control of himself. He kissed her again and again and she started to become active, to participate. She allowed him to open her mouth and explore it gently with his tongue and the sensation made her moan. It was the most arousing sound he had ever heard and he was already more than ready. But this had to be done slowly, and carefully, and she had to set the pace.

At first his hands only caressed her shoulders and back but soon he became bolder and strong calloused fingers started exploring her entire body. Mariliel couldn't believe it, it felt as if they were close to a hearth filled with burning wood for she was so warm and her heart was beating in a wild rhythm. This was nothing like the horrible things that human had done to her, it felt wonderful and she ached for so much more. It was an all-consuming hunger, a yearning for something she yet had to experience.

Legolas was beside himself with desire by now, he was shaking and had to really struggle to rein himself in. He had to think of her now, and ignore his own need. She was most important and he let his hands and mouth worship her slowly, every inch and every curve. Mariliel gasped and writhed, she could only cling onto him as he did such wonderfully naughty and amazing things with her body. He licked and sucked on her nipples and she let out a small shriek of sheer emotion, she felt something deep within her contracting and suddenly she just couldn't control herself anymore. She tried to pull him down with her, to get him up on top of her. It was as if those terrible things never had happened, it would be something so utterly different to join with the one her soul was destined for.

Legolas felt a bit flattered by the fact that she was so eager but he didn't want to startle her in any way, and the sensation of being pinned down, even only by his weight could trigger some unwelcome reactions so he grasped onto her and flung them around with a swift and very elegant movement. Mariliel let out a small shriek out of sheer shock and he got a hold of her hips and arranged her above him, got her into position. "Like this meleth, now you are the one in charge"

Mariliel understood the wisdom of his deed, and felt deeply moved by his concern. He was only thinking about her well being and she bent forwards and kissed him, he let his hands slide up along her thighs and then one hand went teasingly towards that one spot he hadn't touched just yet. Mariliel closed her eyes, mouth forming an O and she shuddered, strong fingers were gently exploring her, touching her very core and creating wonderful sensations of pleasure. She had never felt anything like this ever, it felt so good, it felt so good she could have died and without even knowing it she started rocking herself against his hand. Legolas moaned, breathing heavily and close to losing whatever control he had left. She was so warm, so wet and so ready and he felt so proud of the fact that he had managed to awaken her lust in such a manner. He kept rubbing her most sensitive spot very lightly and she mewled and tossed her head back, panting.

"Oh Eru, you are so wet"

His voice hoarse and raw and thick with desire and she whimpered, pushed herself against the wonderful touch again and again. He let a finger enter her, very gently and slowly and she let out a loud cry and he felt how her muscles were grasping onto him, almost trying to pull him in. It was too much, he couldn't continue without spilling out of sheer arousal, he was already leaking heavily and both his member and his balls were aching. He had to come soon or he would go insane. Mariliel cursed when he removed his hand, then she almost sobbed. " Why did you stop? I…I was almost…"

He panted. " I know, me too! But you are to control this Mariliel, not me, Take me when you feel ready"

She stared down at his hard member that lay against his toned belly, some part of her suddenly felt nervous again for he was rather large and she had her doubts about whether or not he could fit inside of her but that little voice was swiftly pushed aside by her natural urge to join with her destined mate. She took a deep breath, then she touched him and he yelped and bucked against her hand and she giggled. He was warm, and hard and yet the skin was like the finest satin and she felt his heartbeat all through his body. She caressed the hard length with an expression of wonder on her face and he let her, even though he suffered. She had to be so familiar with him she didn't fear fulfilling this.

She tickled the insides of his thigh, it earned her a gasp from him and he squirmed, pushed himself up into her grip. She felt empowered, strong. Indeed she was in charge now and it felt like a sort of freedom, one she hadn't experienced before. She was really surprised by the sheer intensity of their emotions, of the power of the desire he had awakened within her. Normally Mariliel hated it when she couldn't control herself and everything around her but now she had just surrendered completely to something completely new and it was awesome and terrifying at the same time.

Legolas arched, eyes closed and grimacing as if he was in pain. "M…Mariliel, meleth, please, I am so close…"

She wasn't ignorant. She didn't doubt at all that he would be able to do it several times in one night, but this time? She wanted it to be just right, to be their true joining. She hesitated for a moment, then she pushed herself a little forward, and used her hand to steer him straight. Her heart was beating in a rhythm she had never experienced before and she was heaving for air, she felt nervous and yet brave, vulnerable and at the same time powerful. He opened his eyes, stared at her. " Look at me Mariliel, just look at me."

She did, she stared him straight in the eye as she felt the head of his member against her entrance and then she gathered her courage and pushed herself down onto him. It was a rush, a sort of release of tension and fear and she screamed. She didn't realize that it was her own voice she heard until she ran out of air. Legolas held onto her hips, whispering incoherent words of love and encouragement and Mariliel heaved for air, shuddering. There was a swift feeling of resistance and she knew that the wizard indeed had healed her completely, she was a virgin also physically in spite of the rape, and the sudden pain made her yelp and freeze. He reached up, put his hands onto her cheeks. "Relax, just relax, do not think of what was, this is now. Look at me"

She did, there was only love in his blue eyes and so she took a deep breath and moved slowly, letting her instinct lead her. At first it stung, then she really felt how he filled her, stretched her and made her whole and the pain was forgotten as if it had never been there. There was an expression of utter awe and shock on her face as she experienced a sensation so new to her she couldn't even explain it. It was just overwhelming and so emotional and he gasped and moaned and let her set the pace. Mariliel hadn't really believed those who told her how good this felt, she had believed that they were exaggerating for sure, now she knew that they weren't. She was sobbing with need, and they had found a common rhythm, both moving against each other. He let his hands run through the long loose locks of hair, it felt like silk against his skin and he caught her gaze again. He was almost there and wanted them to come together so he reached down between their bodies and found her bud once more, rubbed it very gently in rhythm with their thrusts. Mariliel tossed her head back, she was completely overtaken by the mounting pleasure, hadn't even believed that her body could reveal such new sensations to her. Nothing had ever felt like this, it was roaring through her body like wildfire, consuming who she had been and transforming her into something new.

Heat gathered in her lower body, made her tense up, made her breath become erratic and her movements likewise. It was too much, it was ….then it all just exploded, the sensation of him being inside of her, being one with her just got too strong, too everything. She arched and screamed his name as wave upon wave of exquisite sensations rushed through her, made her shiver in spasms. Legolas held onto her, held her in place as he kept thrusting, kept going, roaring out her name while he saw stars and sparks and came so hard he was afraid he would pass out from the sheer force of it. Mariliel kept screaming, kept shivering as she felt him pulse inside her, felt how something warm filled her very core and she knew it was his seed. Finally she was complete and she let out one last wailing cry as the last spasm of her very first orgasm made her push down onto him again, hard!

Legolas was panting, but he acted upon sheer instinct. He grasped onto her face with both hands, stared deep into her eyes and they repeated the vows and now both really felt that their fear merged and became as one, that the bond was completed and true. Nothing would separate them now, they were one. Mariliel was covered with sweat but so was he and they collapsed into a heap of shivering limbs. Both gasping endearments and feeling as if the love they now felt could overcome everything. Mariliel didn't realize that she was crying until he lifted a hand and wiped tears off her cheeks. He was crying too and they didn't need to speak now, both knew what the other felt and they just laid there, embraced by the old oak and each other. Mariliel giggled softly and he opened his eyes and stared at her, a little confused. " You were right, it does run in the family"

He scoffed and grasped onto her again, she was mine now and he would never ever let her go.

The balrogslayer and the wizard left the horse in a small canyon not far from Dol Guldur, Aiwendil seemed to know where they were going and before long they entered an open glen. Glorfindel stopped and stared in awe, in front of them stood something he hadn't even dreamed about in his wildest reverie. He did recognize Mariliel's horse but this animal was changed, a lot. The glowing horn wasn't the only difference and he suddenly knew he was in the presence of something akin to a vala. He felt a deep need to kneel and the animal snorted and Aiwendil nodded calmly. " Yes, I know. We are ready, lead us on noble one"

The animal tossed its head back and whinnied, it was a scream that sounded as piercing as glass being rubbed and it made Glorfindel put his hands over his sensitive ears. There was an answer from the dark and the warrior stared with big eyes. Trees were moving towards them, or at least it looked like trees but he realized that they were ents. And among them shadows moved, fleeting and swift and shapeless and he felt a chill running down his spine. He felt their anger, their hatred of the darkness. These were houseless, the spirits of elves and other creatures who hadn't answered the call of Namo because they wanted to avenge their demise. Roots and branches were moving, shapes being remade and bizarre animals seemed to gather around them, made from the living wood itself. It was a terrible and formidable enemy and Aiwendil smiled at Glorfindel. "You deal with orcs trying to escape, guard the bridge. We will deal with the rest."

Glorfindel took a deep breath, unsheathed his blade. " Are you sure about this?"

Aiwendil bared his teeth, there as a ferocity in the expression that made Glorfindel realize that even this seemingly benign and harmless being had another side, a night side. "Yes my friend, I am sure. This place must be erased, be cleansed before it becomes a festering boil from whence more evil will grow. Let's go to war mellon, and may the valar be with us"

Aiwendil stood still for a few seconds and now he was glowing. The fragile old man was gone, instead Glorfindel saw a tall strong figure, clad in bright robes, wielding a staff of great power. He took a deep breath, the dark animal reared and screamed again, and then they all charged, at once.


	10. The fall of evil

Chapter 10: The fall of evil

The old fortress lay there, bathed in a rather pale moonlight and it did look deserted indeed. Glorfindel knew that this once had been a palace, the first erected by Thranduil's father and that its original name had been Amon Lanc. Now it was a mere ruin and he felt a shiver running down his spine when he looked at the decay and the half dead forest that surrounded the ruin. Aiwendil was glowing, he was walking forward with a spring in his step that hadn't been there before and his staff was held high. Glorfindel had unsheathed his blade and felt ready to fight, his adrenaline was pumping and he was looking out for enemies all the time. The strange beasts created by the very forest itself rushed forth and the black unicorn ran ahead of them, its light was so sharp it hurt the eyes.

Aiwendil shouted something Glorfindel didn't understand, it sounded like the language of power used by the valar and the effect was stunning. The entire ruin seemed to shiver, as if it was covered with a veil the words tried to pull away. He realized that the whole place was being masked, that what they saw wasn't real. Aiwendil shouted yet again, and this time he struck at the ground with his staff and light rushed out from him into every crevice, filled the ruin and Glorfindel could hear a sort of distant mumble, a counterspell?

The black unicorn stopped and whinnied, a terrible piercing sound, then it lowered its head and the horn seemed to penetrate the very stone itself and even more light rushed forth, faster than the eye could follow. There was a dull thud and the magic dissolved, Glorfindel gasped. The ruin was utterly changed, there were obvious signs of it being inhabited by orcs and the stench of death and rot was heavy in the air. Aiwendil sent him a grin,, it was wide and there was something akin to madness in his eyes. " Of all the istari sent to Ennor I have been deemed the weakest one, the one with hardly any powers. But I was chosen for a reason and they have failed to understand that. I am as tenacious as an old badger!"

He shouted once more and now they heard the sound of running feet, many running feet. The vines and brambles growing along the half crumbled walls suddenly came to life, like living barbed wire and the first orcs that came scurrying were simply grabbed and thrown through the air like ragdolls. Glorfindel shouted an old warcry and got busy, there were orcs everywhere. They were shooting out of every opening like rats from a sinking ship and he soon had to fight for real. He was swirling around, spinning in a terrifying and beautiful dance of death. He had always been among the very best fighters of his race and now he proved it. His blade cut through armor and flesh and he left a trail of dead and dying orcs.

The strange beasts ripped into the orcs, blades did not harm them at all and they seemed to shape shift all the time, like they were adapting to the enemy's attacks. Aiwendil stood there with his staff high and he was still shouting. The unicorn ran around and the orcs dropped dead if they came within twenty feet of the creature, like it was sucking the very life out of them. Glorfindel understood why this place had become such a nuisance and problem, there were literally hundreds of orcs there. Some were huge and strong and only the chaos prevented them from forming a very good defense. Glorfindel had just beheaded a very ugly orc with a huge scar across its forehead when there was a rumbling sound and a dark cloud seemed to form in front of the open place they were in. Tendrils of darkness seemed to stretch out towards Aiwendil who started to call out again, something new this time. He held his staff up high and it sort of exploded into light. The darkness seemed to grown, to swell and the wizard could barely hold it back.

Glorfindel started to fear that the wizard had bitten over more than he could chew when the black unicorn came sprinting, it held a speed that was nothing short of being amazing and it jumped. It seemed to be able to fly for a few moments and the bright horn slid into the dark cloud and there was a loud crash and a terrible scream and the dark mist was torn apart by glowing sparks of light, like a million tiny blue fireflies. Aiwendil gasped and looked tired and the unicorn landed elegantly and started killing orcs again together with the forest creatures. The vines and plants were still creating havoc and Glorfindel found new strength and kept fighting. Now the orcs tried to flee but there was nowhere to go. The forest cut them off and after a short while that felt like a lifetime there weren't any orc's left.

The unicorn reared, it let out a sound that reminded Glorfindel of a war trumpet and there was a faint green light spreading over the land, it was there just for a few seconds but Aiwendil grinned, a very knowing smile. "Now comes the pleasant part of this job."

Aiwendil lifted his staff again and whispered something softly and as the stunned Balrog slayer watched the very rock itself seemed to dissolve. The ruin slowly disappeared, and the hill soon looked as if there never had been any settlements upon it at all. The unicorn stomped at the ground with its front hooves and a spring appeared, water started flowing from it in a tiny stream. It pushed its horn into the soil and they could only watch as the sickness that had plagued the forest seemed to be erased in waves that sprung outwards from the hill. The trees turned green and fresh once more and the last remaining spiders fled for their lives but they didn't get far. Aiwendil was singing now, it sounded like a blessing and grass sprung from the ground, and flowers too. Soon the hill was covered with a dense blanket of bright white and blue star shaped flowers and trees too started to grow as if in high speed. Soon the hill was surrounded by a circle of tall and beautiful oaks and beeches and Aiwendil smiled and stopped chanting. The spring would bring its blessed water into the entire forest and darkness would never be able to take a hold of it again.

Glorfindel had put his blade away and he was staring at the impossible sight with huge eyes. Aiwendil was humming merrily. "This is no longer the hill of sorcery but the hill of flowers. And it will be sacred for all time."

He started walking and Glorfindel followed, completely stunned. The unicorn stopped in front of them and neighed and Aiwendil bowed his head. "I know, go now, and one day you will return"

The animal spun around like a leaf in the wind and was gone and Glorfindel felt that his mouth was dry. "What is the meaning of all this?"

Aiwendil just smiled, a very pleased smile. "The forest have gotten its guardian, and the unicorn will be his steed. It will wait for the hour when they will be needed."

Glorfindel just shook his head, this went way beyond his comprehension and he felt his head spin. "So, what are we to do now then?"

Aiwendil grinned. "We are going to visit Thranduil, I bet he will be a bit stunned by all this."

Glorfindel had to grin. "No doubt, so am I!"

They found the horse and now there was no danger there, no more orcs or spiders so they could ride without fear.

The palace had been quiet at first, then they had heard distant sounds coming from afar and Thranduil had walked up to his viewing point from where he could see much of the land. What he saw shocked him immensely, he had to sit down and he felt his heart beating so hard in his chest he feared for his life. The forest was moving, everywhere the trees were whipping their branches around as if in a hurricane and he saw some spiders scurrying by, they were snagged by some roots and impaled upon branches and the elven king just blinked. The forest was cleansing itself, but how? And what had triggered it? It was wonderful for sure but what about his son? He just sat there, staring at the woodland for a long time, not quite daring to believe that it was true.

Legolas and Mariliel had fallen asleep, both exhausted by it all and now they slept in a tight embrace. They didn't notice the faint green light that for a moment filled the small cave and its surroundings. When Legolas finally woke up he had no idea of for how long they had slept, he felt amazing and Mariliel was lying on top of him, breathing sweetly into his hair. He sighed and felt his heart swell with love, he couldn't believe that the valar had blessed him thus. He kissed her forehead and she stirred and yawned, stretched with the sensual elegance of a cat and he had to swallow. He wanted her again, but now was not the time for more of that. He tried to sit up and had to blink, there was a hole in the tree that had previously held them prisoner and it was big enough for them to exit.

Mariliel gasped and sat up and he kissed her again. "We can go home, I bet everybody is beside themselves by now."

Mariliel nodded. " Yes, and we have to tell them of Alaron."

Legolas yawned too. "Get dressed, I am hungry and I bet you are too."

She nodded and got up onto her knees. Found her clothes but they were still damp. It was unpleasant to put them on to say the least but she had to endure. Hopefully it would only be for a short while. Legolas got dressed too and they grasped the few things Legolas had brought with him and crawled out of the hole. Legolas gasped, the air, it felt completely different and the light was so much brighter and purer. The trees were no longer covered with black slime and moss, now they looked as they had in his youth and he had to stare in awe at the beautiful flowers that suddenly had started covering the ground completely. Mariliel was clinging to his arm. "What has happened?!"

Legolas shook his head. "I have no idea meleth, but it is wonderful!"

She swallowed hard and felt a tear of sheer emotion running down her cheek. " It is beautiful"

He nodded and grasped her, spun her around" Not as beautiful as you"

She giggled and blushed and he kissed her with passion. "Let us go home, I think I know the direction now."

She nodded but there was a small glimpse of worry in her eyes. He saw it immediately. "What is it Mariliel?"

She took a deep breath. "How are we going to tell your father?"

Legolas cringed. "Well, ah, I will think of a way"

Mariliel looked as if she had seen something rather scary. " I am afraid he will become very angry, after all, he doesn't like us Noldor at all and it will be a shock to him."

Legolas nodded. " Alright, I will break it to him slowly. We doesn't have to tell him right away, I will find the perfect moment I am sure."

Mariliel nodded. "That is fine, you know him, perhaps you should wait until he is really drunk or something."

Legolas grasped her hand and started walking. " My ada? Drunk? That will be the day orcs starts wearing pink tutu's and taking ballet classes."

She looked confused. "But he does drink a lot doesn't he?"

Legolas nodded. " He does, but he is used to it. And he stops before he can become really inebriated."

She mumbled. "So much for that little idea!"

Legolas had to grin. " He has been drunk though, he told me once that he and his friends broke into his father's wine cellar when they were just in their forties, and drank several bottles of dwarfish mead."

Mariliel had to laugh. "Dwarfish mead? Oh I bet he felt silly the day after. That stuff is lethal!"

Legolas smiled too, widely. " Indeed it is, he swore that it had felt as if someone had tried to cleave his head with an axe."

Mariliel giggled, she had an image in her head of Thranduil laying with his head wrapped in cold wet towels and it made him seem less threatening right away.

Legolas picked up his speed and Mariliel had no problems keeping up although she had to admit that she did feel a bit sore in certain places. But it was something she welcomed and she was feeling proud of herself. She had dared to do something she previously had feared and that was more than she had expected from herself. Legolas pointed towards the sun. "A few hours in that direction and I am sure we will meet some of the guards."

Mariliel looked down at her shoes, they were wet through and through and her clothes felt as if they had shrunk somehow, several hours? Wonderful!

Elrond had kept his word, the moment the strange storm stopped he left the valley accompanied by his sons and some warriors and they rode hard, the shortest path towards the palace of Thranduil. Still it would take them days to get there and he got an increasing feeling of dread. He just knew that he had to get there, and for a reason that wasn't yet revealed to him. He just sensed that his skills as a healer would be needed, and he prayed that the healers of the woodland realm had all the herbs and medicine he was used to using. He felt an urge to push the horse he rode hard but it wouldn't be fair to the animal, it was doing its best. Elladan and Elrohir were nervous too, they were fond of Mariliel and didn't want to lose her, and what their father had told them had made them very upset. Elrond also thought about the things he had learned about Mariliel,, that she was in fact a descendant of Fëanor. He wondered how Thranduil would react to that piece of information. He could only hope that he would get there in time, his instincts had never betrayed him before.

Legolas and Mariliel did walk for a couple of hours and Legolas did barely recognize the woods at all. It was yet again filled with sunshine and color and it made him so happy he could weep. Finally they were found by a troop of warriors who had been dispatched to look for them and Legolas placed Mariliel in front of him in the saddle. It felt safe sitting there but she was getting more and more nervous as they approached the palace. The elves they met were in complete shock, and overjoyed by the weird things that had happened, they were cheering and singing and Mariliel did feel that the king too would be overwhelmed by it all. Still she feared how he would react to the news of his son being wed to a noldorin elleth, Legolas understood her concern and he held her tights. "Worry not, he cannot do anything about it, not anymore."

She sighed. " I know, but I do not want to cause problems between you"

He kissed her cheek. "You won't, we will tell him as soon as the shock of this strange events have let go of him."

Mariliel knew that it was possible for other elves to see whether or not someone was married, it showed in their eyes and he sighed and held her hand. "I will let you go straight to the baths, so you won't have to meet him right away. I will inform him of Alaron, and tell him that you are tired."

She managed to smile. " A small white lie?"

Legolas nodded. "Exactly! I bet the palace will be in an uproar by now"

As they rode down towards the bridge they could see that they were right. There were elves running everywhere and very few did pay any notice to the approaching riders. They entered and Legolas sent Mariliel a swift smile. " Don't worry, it will be okay."

He turned to the officer in charge of the search party. " Go inform my father of my return"

The ellon just bowed and left and Mariliel was about to say something when she heard a shriek and saw that Aeniel came running. The elleth threw herself around Mariliel's neck and appeared to be close to tears. " Oh Eru, I have been so worried, and I have received some frightful news, and are you alright?"

Legolas managed to put on his princely mask. "Aeniel, please take her to the baths, she is tired and cold and wet, and give her some good food too, she deserves it"

Aeniel nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes of course. Oh Mariliel, you look like a drowned cat!"

Mariliel had to grin. "I guess I do, but a warm bath will fix that"

Aeniel grasped her hand and almost dragged her along and Mariliel only had time to throw one last glance at Legolas, he winked at her and then she had to watch her step.

Legolas didn't have to wait for long, suddenly he heard running feet and Thranduil came rushing into the reception hall. He was pale and his hair was unkempt and his robes wrinkled but he was smiling. In fact he seemed to be almost aglow with joy and relief and before the prince had time to even think he was captured in a bear hug that almost choked him. Thranduil was close to tears and Legolas realized that his father had been terribly worried. "Ada, I am fine, really!"

Thranduil did let go of his son, rather reluctantly and stared at him as if he couldn't believe that he really was there. " Ion nin, what happened?"

Legolas had to be careful now, so his father didn't see that tell tale light in his eyes that revealed that his son had found his one and was bonded. "Alaron is dead Ada, he got bitten by a snake and Mariliel couldn't do anything to save him. And she tried to get back but there were orcs and she fell of her horse and sought shelter in a tree. I joined her there, we didn't dare to leave. The forest was…alive"

Thranduil let out a gasp and embraced him once more. " I am so glad to see you again, the forest, it is free of the darkness, It is a miracle!"

Legolas nodded. " Indeed it is. If you will excuse me, I need a bath and a change of clothes and some rest. It was a very cold…night"

Thranduil kissed his son's brow. " Of course Ion nin, we will celebrate soon. This is a joyous day"

Legolas managed to smile. " It is indeed, now, Mariliel…"

Thranduil just gestured. " I am glad you found her Legolas, Elrond would be terribly upset if we lost one of his scholars now wouldn't he? I hope she wasn't too unpleasant a company?"

Legolas sighed. "No, not at all"

Thranduil beamed and patted his back. " Go now, get changed. I have a celebration to arrange."

Legolas bowed swiftly and he almost ran off. He felt so guilty for leaving his father like that but he just couldn't make himself tell his father of his decision, not yet.

Thranduil stared at the young prince as he walked out of the hall with swift steps. There had been something odd about his behavior, the way he never let his eyes meet those of his father and the way his voice had trembled when he mentioned Mariliel. Had they gotten into a fight? Or were things going in the right direction? It was hard to tell, but he was sure he would find out soon enough.

Mariliel was almost shocked by the intensity of Aeniel's concern, the wet clothes were torn off her and she was almost pushed into the warm pool and Aeniel joined her too. Mariliel swallowed hard, she knew that her body probably had signs of what she had done, bruises and a couple of hickeys too. Aeniel seemed to upset to notice though. "You said you had received news?"

Aeniel flinched and swallowed hard. " I have, oh Eru, this is…I got a message from Elrond. He had discovered what it was that happened to you when you were young, and who your family descend from"

Mariliel felt a surge of anger rush through her. "Did you tell him to dig in my past?!"

Aeniel was wringing her hands. " Please, do not get mad at me, I was worried for you! You are acting so oddly and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay"

Mariliel took a deep breath. " Alright, so who does my family descend from then?"

Aeniel bit her lower lip. " One of Fëanor's sons, one of the twins!"

Mariliel gasped and blinked. " What? Oh Eru, that is…wow, unbelievable!"

Aeniel nodded. " But it is true, and what more, you were attacked as an elfling"

Mariliel swallowed hard. " Aeniel, I know"

The healer looked very puzzled. " You do? But, how?!"

Mariliel took a deep breath to steady herself. " It is a long story alright? But I know the truth, and I have overcome it. I am safe now Aeniel, no risk of me fading or anything"

Aeniel just gaped. " That is incredible. How?"

Mariliel blushed. "Legolas, he is my one, and he saved me when I started to remember. I am his wife Aeniel"

The healer just stared until Mariliel had to shake her out of the shock. "Aeniel, snap out of it. I married the prince last night!"

The healer blinked, then she took some huge breaths of air. " Eru's mercy, Thranduil will blow a fuse, no, all!"

Mariliel made a grimace. "That is what we are afraid of, so Legolas will tell him gently, when the time is right. So please don't tell anyone?"

Aeniel was panting. "That is quite some news elleth, the forest has rid itself of the orcs and spiders, and we have a new princess. I never thought I would see such a day!"

Mariliel just blushed and Aeniel got a peculiar wrinkle on her forehead. " Wait a minute, married?! That means that you…Oh dear, you did….that!"

Mariliel giggled. " Most absolutely so yes, and it was wonderful!"

Aeniel looked like a balloon someone has let the air escape from, she sort of collapsed. " Oh I am so happy for you, it is so romantic."

Mariliel nodded, but her eyes turned sad again. " Alaron is dead Aeniel,, he got bitten by a snake and died. I am so sorry"

The healer gasped and her eyes were dark. " That is awful, poor Alaron, he was such a sweet young ellon"

Mariliel nodded. "He was, he will be sorely missed by many I am sure"

Aeniel was clapping her hands. " But he will be remembered fondly, and the woodland is healed, there is much to celebrate."

Mariliel smiled. "There is. I cannot really believe that it is all true"

Aeniel pinched her arm lightly. "But it is, you are awake and you are the wife of our beloved prince. Oh I cannot wait for that announcement to be made."

Mariliel giggled. " He has to tell Thranduil first, and I bet that task is one that makes even him nervous."

Aeniel giggled. " Oh, the king is so relieved by now that he would probably accept anything, even Legolas marrying an orc."

Mariliel had to grin widely. " I doubt that! But for a few days at least we have to keep this as a secret alright? I can trust you?"

Aeniel nodded. "With your life! I am so glad for you, you deserve happiness"

Mariliel blushed and grasped onto some soap. " Well, now I do deserve a good bath at least, and I am starving!"

Aeniel immediately went to work washing Mariliel's long hair. "Worry not, I will make sure you get as much food as you could possibly want."

Legolas too had a hot bath and a change of clothes and he sort of wanted to go to his dad and confess but the king was busy. He was running around shouting orders and had an almost childlike joy in organizing the celebration and so Legolas didn't interrupt. Mariliel stayed in her old room and he had to go to his chamber that felt empty and cold without her there and he ached to be with her. Then Galion suddenly came and gave Legolas too shores to do and the prince didn't have time to even see his wife for two whole days. Mariliel stayed in the room and in the library and she ached too. Being separated from him was terrible. Some had retrieved Alarons body and it was burned in a very nice but sad ceremony. His father would travel west soon, he couldn't bare the grief and it did put a dampener on the mood.

The celebration was well on the way, the scouts returned with descriptions of a forest restored to its old glory and the most amazing thing was that there weren't even one orc left anywhere.

The morning before the celebration Mariliel woke up suddenly and she immediately knew that it was her husband who had entered her room. He sat down next to her on the bed and leaned down, kissed her with both love and hunger. " I couldn't stand it anymore, I had to see you again!"

She embraced him and he snuggled against her neck. " I have tried to tell ada but he is so darn busy and…."

Marilliel nodded. " I know, the whole place is a madhouse. But you have to tell him, we cannot keep this hidden"

He nodded. "I know, I will try tonight!"

She frowned. " Is that really wise?"

He shrugged, got in underneath her blankets and she yelped, he was naked! "He cannot throw an tantrum in public now can he?"

Mariliel blushed and giggled, his hands had already started to remove her nightgown. "Is it alright Mariliel? I…I have dreamt of you, yearned for you"

She lifted herself so he could slip the gown off her. " It is alright meleth, I want you too!"

He almost growled and pulled her close and before long they were too engaged in this newfound joy to bother with the world around them.

As the two were busy making love Glorfindel and Aiwendil were getting close to the palace, they had ridden slowly since the balrog slayer didn't want to risk his horse and Aiwendil smiled but there was a stern glimpse within his eyes, " Now, as we approach the palace you must let me do the talking. I sense danger still, and I do not think that it is wise to reveal what we do know of Mariliel. The healer knows yes, but let us keep it between us for now."

Glorfindel frowned. "Then what are we to tell them?"

Aiwendil smiled again. " That I have been curious about the changes in the woods and that you have been sent by your master to verify them"

The golden haired ellon scoffed. "It has been just a couple of days damn it!"

The wizard made a vague gesture. "Let me do the talking you hear? I sensed something before it even started and went to investigate and brought you along as protection, how does that sound?"

Glorfindel sighed, "Better, but not perfect by any means. But alright, say what you want and I will try to back you up."

Aiwendil beamed. "Excellent"

They were greeted by the guards by the gates and allowed entry and Glorfindel was stunned by the activity. There was obviously going to be a feast and Thranduil met them in the throne room. Aiwendil explained that they had travelled to witness the miracle and the king just nodded, he was still too overwhelmed to really understand. Aiwendil told him that Dol Guldur had vanished and that made the usually so controlled elf look dumbstruck for a few seconds. Glorfindel hadn't believed that it was even possible. They were escorted to some nice guest chambers and Glorfindel had to admit that he was looking forward to a woodland celebration, he had heard that those parties could become rather wild at times.

Mariliel and Legolas lay there as one, both panting and sweaty after their third round of rather wild and steamy sex and Mariliel was giggling constantly, she couldn't help it. It was so amazing and she hid a small grin. There was something she had to tell him, she hadn't been sure but she had asked Aeniel and there was no doubt about it. Legolas had closed his eyes and was panting still, it felt as though his desire for her never could be quite quenched and he longed for the day when they could move into better chambers together. He removed a strand of wet hair from her forehead and kissed her slowly. "You are going to be the death of me Mariliel, I will keep doing this until I am completely exhausted"

She put her arms around him. " I don't think anything will be able to exhaust you my love."

Legolas pouted. " Oh I bet the scolding I will receive when I break the news to ada will be pretty darn tough, I can almost hear him already."

Mariliel snuggled up against him, holding him hard. " Do you think telling him that he is to be a grandfather will ease his temper?"

Legolas jerked, stared down at her. " Uh? What?! Are you…"

He reached down and placed his hand over her stomach, let his fëa reach out to her and lo and behold. He could clearly feel the bright light and energy of a newly created soul. He just stared at her, eyes like dinner plates and his mouth wide open.

She giggled. "Close your mouth meleth, you risk swallowing a bird the way you are gaping."

He gasped again and blinked desperately. " Did…did this happen after our first time?!"

She nodded, a bit proud of that fact. "Yes, so you have to tell him, before I start showing"

Legolas was shivering with emotions. " Eru, I…I didn't think it would happen this fast, oh Mariliel, I am…"

He grasped her, held her hard. " I am happier than anyone has ever been before"

There were tears on his face and she kissed them away, gently. " So am I meleth, we are to become a family"

Legolas kissed her again, rocking her in his arms. " I will get up, take a bath and dress and then I will go see my ada. I care not if he explodes"

Mariliel smiled. "That is the spirit, I will bathe and get dressed too."

Legolas sat up and caressed her cheek. " I will send some servants with a gown for you, one fitting a princess. And jewelry. Ask Aeniel to do your hair, tonight everybody will know that you are my wife, and that we already have been blessed by the valar."

Mariliel kissed his hand and he got up and put his dressing robe back on, he did sneak out of the door and returned to his chambers where he took a long very hot bath just to calm down. Then he dressed with great care and made sure that he did look impeccable. The celebration was to begin early that day so there was no time to lose. When he was ready he gathered his courage and marched off towards his father's office, this was harder than facing an army of orcs in close combat.

Thranduil had been a bit frustrated the last days, he had been terribly busy with the preparations and had little time for anything else but he hadn't managed to find out if there was a change in the relationship between his son and Mariliel. Or of there was a relationship at all! He knew that she was a rather unique elleth and maybe Legolas did have a taste for more ordinary females after all? Then he would continue looking for a suitable daughter in law until the breaking of arda for sure, for he knew that his son needed someone with spirit and spark to stay in balance. Now he was sitting by his desk, signing documents and trying to come up with a method he could use to question his son without him noticing it.

He had thought of asking Feren for another favor but had decided against it. After all, it could seem a bit suspicious. But he was dying to know, had Legolas any interest in Mariliel or had it vanished into thin air? He sipped some wine and finished some papers, staring down at his signature. Sometimes being a king was hard, and he felt as though he had lost some of the good contact he had had with his son when he was younger. That was regrettable but it had been unavoidable. He was thinking about getting Galion and making him bring more wine when there was a knock on the door. He called out and Legolas entered, he looked a bit nervous and Thranduil cocked his head.

"Ion nin, is there something I can do for you?

Legolas swallowed, he was in fact pale. " Uh, well, about tonight, Mariliel…"

Thranduil felt a jolt of nervous energy build up within, what was this? "What about that noldo? Are you afraid to be seated too close to her? Worry not, she may dine with the servants."

Legolas clenched his teeth together. " It isn't that, it is"

Thranduil interrupted again, it was obviously rather important since Legolas was squirming as if there were ants in his pants. "Then what? Don't tell me she has tried to flirt with you? Or have you perhaps tried to bed her? I care not who you take to bed as long as it is just for the pleasure."

Legolas gulped, his eyes were bulging a bit and Thranduil felt triumphant. He did care, he wouldn't have reacted thus if he didn't. Maybe there was hope after all!

Legolas took a deep breath, then he stared straight ahead like a soldier and spoke with a very shivering voice. " No Ada, I…We are married Ada, she is my one and I love her and by the way, she is with child so you are to become a grandfather in a year's time"

Thranduil didn't make a sound, he just stared. He looked like a painting and he didn't even blink and Legolas did get nervous. " Ada, are you alright?!"

The king looked as if he was trying to imitate one of the huge catfish that lived in the river, with a mouth that was opening and closing and a rather unintelligent expression within his eyes. " Ghaaa, what..you said…married? Eru! A child?!"

Legolas nodded, he tried to remain calm although he wished to turn and run for his life. " You heard me ada, Mariliel is my wife. We married in the woods, we have spoken our vows and there is nothing anybody can do about it"

There was a loud crash, the king had broken the wine glass he held and he blinked and stared at it with wide eyes " I am to become a grandfather?"

The words were almost breathless, a mere whisper and Legolas stood there ready to run. "Yes, that is correct"

Thranduil suddenly tipped forward and Legolas let out a startled yelp, had his father passed out? He ran forth and grasped onto his father and to his astonishment Thranduil was crying, tears were flowing down his cheeks and he almost sobbed. " Oh ion nin, I thought I never would hear those words, it is…"

He got up and Legolas was yet again pulled into a fierce hug, it was his turn to gape like a fish on dry land. "It is the best news I have ever received, words cannot describe how happy this has made me!"

Legolas gasped. "But…you cannot stand Mariliel? You have tried to keep us apart?"

Thranduil blinked. " My ada once told me that there is nothing so tempting as forbidden fruit, my tactic's worked!"

Legolas sent his father a rather shocked glare. " You! You set this whole thing up?"

He nodded and grinned and wiped tears. "Elrond did recommend her, and I liked her the moment I saw her. I just knew she would be a perfect fit for you son, but if I just introduced you to each other I knew you would resist."

Legolas growled. " Ada, you are a scoundrel!"

Thranduil was beaming. " A happy scoundrel, one overjoyed. I have nothing against Mariliel at all, she is a very strong elleth and you need that. I do welcome her into our family with open arms"

Legolas let out a huge sigh of relief and Thranduil patted him on his back. " So relax, it will be fine. Tonight there will be a joyous celebration indeed, and a wedding ceremony too. It will be a night to remember!"

Legolas felt like he was about to faint, the last minutes had been very tense indeed. " Yes, I am quite sure of that, oh Eru how relieved I am!"

Thranduil kissed his forehead. " As am I, go to your lovely wife and tell her to get ready. This night will be in her honor, and yours. You have brought the joy back into this ancient heart"

Legolas had to hug his father back. " It was my pleasure"

Thranduil managed to make a wry smirk. " Oh I am sure it was ion nin, I am sure it was!"


	11. Like a snake in the reeds

Chapter 11: Like a snake in the reeds…

Mariliel had never felt thus in all of her life, she was shaking with tension and anxiety and Aeniel was chatting away like mad just to keep her mind occupied. She didn't hear a single word of it though, her mind was elsewhere. Legolas had told her of his father's unexpected reaction and she had grinned at first and then she had felt rather angry before she cried with relief. So Thranduil and Elrond had been together on this? Those scoundrels! She would shake her mentor really hard the next time she met him. She had gotten a dress that was just wonderful and some jewelry too that had belonged to Legolas mother and it made her feel very humble indeed. Now Aeniel was doing the finishing touches, adding some makeup and putting some nice gold clasps into her hair. She did hardly recognize the elleth in the mirror. Aeniel was beside herself with joy. "Look at you, this realm has never seen a more beautiful princess. They will all adore you"

She tried to smile, felt how her nervousness made her stomach cramp up. " Are you sure?"

Aeniel nodded solemnly. "Absolutely, to know that the prince finally is married and a father to be will turn this celebration into something truly special. There is hope yet again, and light. And we will see that the family of Oropher will live on."

Mariliel took a deep breath. " I am surely going to make a fool out of myself"

Aeniel shook her head violently. "No you are not, you are going to be the perfect lady tonight and everybody will be in awe of you and they will worship the very ground on which you tread."

The healer spun her around a few times. "You are perfect, just wait while I get dressed, and then we will go. Your husband and father in law are waiting."

Mariliel managed to smile, but she still felt terrified. She could only hope that Legolas safe presence would calm her down.

Meanwhile Aiwendil and Glorfindel too got ready for the feast, the balrogslayer had gotten some clothes that probably were made for the king, they were a little tight around the shoulders but not too bad and at least they were long enough. He felt quite ready for a feast and wanted to enjoy himself. Aiwendil had refused to change his clothing, the only difference between now and before was that he had washed some of the bird poop of his face. Glorfindel had to shake his head when he saw it, the istari would probably never change. They went together to the great hall and were seated rather close to the king and Glorfindel did notice that Thranduil looked absolutely radiant this evening, his eyes were shining and he was smiling all the time and those smiles were real, not just the normal fake ones. Was he that happy about the fact that the forest was cleansed and that Legolas had returned home safely?

Aiwendil leaned over towards him and whispered. "I sense danger still, it is not close as of yet, but it will rear its ugly head soon enough."

Glorfindel frowned. " I have no idea of what you are talking about old friend, look, everybody is happy, and content, and there is such joy here"

Aiwendil nodded. "And in joy darkness hides, like a snake in the reeds. We will be needed"

Glorfindel swallowed, he didn't like the things Aiwendil said, could the wizard be wrong about this? He sensed no danger whatsoever and his instincts were keen after millennia of war and fights.

When everybody was there Legolas entered and sat down next to his father and Glorfindel did notice that there was an extra chair there, and it was empty. The crowd saw it too and some looked a bit curious about it. Thranduil seemed to get a signal from his butler and stood up, everybody went silent and Legolas got up too and walked down to the entrance. When he returned he was holding Mariliels hand and he brought her with him up to the royal table. Thranduil was beaming, Glorfindel had never seen him thus ever. "My beloved subjects, my people. Today we have many things to celebrate, our forest is yet again safe and sound and the darkness is lifted from our realm."

Many cheered and clapped and Thranduil hushed them with a gesture. "There is yet more great news to celebrate, two wonderful things that I have learned off."

He turned towards his son and Mariliel. " My son has found his one true mate and they are married by the laws of the valar and Eru. I present to thee, princess Mariliel of Imladris"

There was a shocked silence, then there were shouts and loud cries of joy and the noise was deafening. Thranduil grinned even wider. "The valar has blessed my family, for she is already with child, by this time next year we will have a new heir"

Glorfindel just gaped and Aiwendil did clap vigorously. "I was expecting that yes, if the prince is as virile as his father there are gonna be a lot of elflings before they are finished."

Glorfindel just stared, Mariliel was more beautiful than ever and she stood there blushing, receiving the congratulations and joy of the entire realm. Legolas held her hand firmly and she dared to raise her eyes and meet the ones staring at her with pride. She would be a perfect spouse no doubt, and Legolas was one lucky ellon for sure. Thranduil lifted his goblet. "A toast for the newlyweds, and for my grandchild, may it be the first of many"

Legolas blushed and everybody drank and Mariliel giggled behind her hand. Legolas held the chair out and she sat down and Galion poured her some juice. There would be no more wine for her until the baby was born. The atmosphere within the hall was suddenly ecstatic and Aiwendil grinned widely. "Oh I bet there will be more elflings born in a year's time than just the one Thranduil just told everybody off. This night will be fecund I am sure"

Glorfindel had to grin and he did notice that quite a few very pretty ellith was giving him very suggestive glances. Yes, it would be a night to remember for sure.

The feast turned into one of the really wild parties the wood elves were infamous of, food and drink were plentiful and there was singing and dancing and much merriment and soon most of the crowd were drunk and happy and had lost all restraints. Glorfindel found himself being escorted back to his chamber by three very sweet ellith and he just knew he was a very lucky ellon for sure. Legolas and Mariliel retreated to his rooms now since they were married and spent the night in the best possible way and at daybreak even Thranduil had had enough and was escorted to his bed by a very annoyed Galion who knew that he for the next days would have to nurse a very hung over and irritable king back to good health.

As the entire realm tried to sleep and recover from their excesses a figure was gliding down the stairs deep beneath the great hall. It was covered with a dark cloak and its steps were light and nervous. It went by the dungeons and into a tunnel few ever used, it lead to a small underground lake that was used as a water source in times of drought and the lake was rather shallow but cold. On the other side of the lake there as a sort of small peninsula, perhaps a few square meters of almost naked rock with one exception. A small patch was covered with moss and on the moss there grew some mushrooms. The figure didn't hesitate but waded into the cold water, kept its course with great determination.

A hand quickly gathered a few of the pale mushrooms and put them into a bag, then the figure waded back, swiftly and silently. The hands were shaking a bit but if anyone had seen the eyes they would have been astonished by the cold angered look in them. The figure disappeared in the maze of tunnels, and the palace was silent and peaceful. It would be done, there was no way back, it was no reason to hesitate.

The next days went by in a haze, Legolas rooms were redecorated and better fitted for two persons, Mariliel got a whole new wardrobe and there were hundreds of elves dropping by to congratulate her. The amount of gifts was astounding and she received everything from cookies to baby clothing. She felt completely overwhelmed and Legolas stayed with her most of the time, she was starting to get very emotional and Aeniel had warned her that she soon would feel the less than charming effects of carrying new life.

Thranduil was beside himself, showering the couple with attention and love and Legolas was overjoyed to see that the cheerful bright ellon he remembered from his childhood had returned. The whole palace had suddenly transformed itself completely, the shadows were gone and light was everywhere, and the elves were doing their chores with song and laughter. Three more couples had gotten married the night of the feast and there were more unions on the way and the realm vibrated with life. It reminded everybody of the old days when darkness seemingly was vanquished and the world safe.

Mariliel was suddenly royalty and thus she was given chamber maidens and servants and it was quite a shock to her. Her two chamber maidens were both silvan and very merry and funny ellith who made her laugh and relax. She suddenly had duties and to her dismay Legolas forbade her from finishing the work with the library until the elfling was born. He believed that the dark damp room would be bad for her in her delicate condition and Mariliel felt like smacking him over the head. She didn't feel delicate at all! Her appetite for those new pleasures hadn't diminished even a bit and Aeniel had told them it was alright so they spent almost every night in each-others arms.

Then one morning she woke up feeling nauseous and sighed, Aeniel had warned her about it and she was prepared but it was darn irritating and not at all pleasant. She went through the heap of gifts she had received since the day before, it was custom that a mother to be was gifted with all sorts of stuff she would need and the givers were often anonymous too. She had gotten some nice pieces of embroidered cloth, a wooden ring with a pretty pattern engraved into it and also some trays of healthy food. It made her grin, the chefs already did their outmost to spoil her but the locals didn't believe that they were capable of tending to the needs of a pregnant elleth.

Legolas was out checking on the palace horses, there were mares due to give birth that spring and everybody was excited about it. The king had bought some very fine stallions and everybody was curious about the foals and if they would be as good as they expected. Legolas owned one of the mares and had promised that their child would be given the foal as a naming present and Mariliel liked the idea. Her chamber maidens were washing her hair and braiding it when she all of a sudden felt very weird. Her head spun for a moment and she got a bit dizzy too but it let go and she just shrugged. Her body was changing a lot, it was to expect. She didn't say anything but then she was hit with a wave of nausea and had to sit up, feeling slightly green. What was this? It was past mid-day, her morning sickness had stopped hours ago. "My lady? Are you feeling alright?"

Mariliel tried to analyze her feelings, the dizziness returned and she suddenly felt terribly heavy, like she couldn't support herself. "No, Teniel, go get Aeniel now!"

The chamber maiden ran off so fast her braids stood out behind her and the other one, a brunette named Logonde helped Mariliel get out of the bathtub, she was shivering slightly and the nausea was intense. Mariliel gasped and Logonde wrapped a thick towel around her, the brunettes eyes were dark with worry and Mariliel felt as though she was about to faint. Logonde shouted and one of the other servants entered the chambers, he stared down at the floor since the princess wasn't properly dressed. "Go get the prince, now! Tell him she is unwell"

The servant ran off too and Mariliel suddenly felt as if something terribly heavy had settled onto her chest, she had problems breathing and panic struck. She clawed at Logonde's arms and the elleth whimpered but didn't let go. "Easy my lady, Aeniel will be here soon"

Luckily Aeniel had been working not far from the royal chambers and came swiftly. Mariliel was terrified and gasping for air and Aeniel grasped her hand and felt her pulse, stared at her eyes and knew that this was something bad. It was surely nothing brought on by the pregnancy and she was getting worried right away but was careful not to reveal her fear to Mariliel. "Breathe deeply, just relax, I need to examine you carefully"

Mariliel nodded but her eyes were filled with panic and Aeniel swore. She had no idea of what this could be! The heart was racing like crazy but that could be due to the fear and her breathing was extremely labored. Logonde and Teniel stood there looking as if they were about to pass out. "She was nauseous, she didn't say anything but she did turn green!"

Aeniel didn't feel any fever, and Mariliel wasn't bleeding so she couldn't be losing the baby, at least not yet. Legolas came running, he was pale and he threw himself down onto his knees beside the chair. "What is wrong with her, answer me!"

Aeniel tried to seek through Mariliel's hroa with her own energy but something blocked her, it didn't feel right at all and Mariliel had started to shake, as if in spasms. Some servant had gone telling the king of this and he and Galion burst into the room, Thranduil was pale and Legolas looked as if he was about to burst into tears. Aeniel was a good healer but she had never come across symptoms like these, they didn't seem to match any disease or illness she had encountered. Mariliel moaned and suddenly her body bent in an almost impossible angle, as if her heels and the back of her head tried to connect and Legolas let out a wail of despair. Aeniel gasped. "Get her onto the bed, fast, I have to stop those cramps"

Thranduil was holding Legolas, his eyes were dark. "What is happening?"

Aeniel bit her teeth together, they put Mariliel onto the bed and she was no longer conscious. "I have no idea, this happened fast?"

The chambermaidens nodded in unison and Aeniel saw that Mariliel had gotten a nasty blue color around her mouth. Eru, they were losing her.

Just then a servant came running into the room, his eyes wide as saucers. " My lord, Elrond of Imladris and his sons are outside of the gates and demand entry"

Thranduil let out a strange wailing sound. "Thank Eru! He is sent from the valar for sure, bring him in, and tell him that Mariliel has fallen ill!"

Elrond had ridden through a forest that was utterly changed and it amazed him but it didn't slow them down. There were no more spiders or orcs and thus they could ride hard and he felt a tugging sensation as they got closer to the palace. Time was running short, he had to hurry. When they stopped outside of the gates the horses were panting and he felt as if something was digging claws into his mind, urging him on. The servant who had gone to notify the king returned, looking pale. "My lord, you are most welcome. Mariliel is taken ill, she is with child and we all fear for her life"

Elrond felt as if a huge stone had been dropped onto him, he just gasped and the twins stared with wide eyes. "With child?!But…."

The servant nodded. "She married the prince the night the forest cleansed itself, she is a princess now"

Elrond swore to himself. So the plan had worked after all, and she would never have married for anything but love but ill? Elves do not fall ill easily and he dismounted and ran after the servant. Elladan and Elrohir followed him like shadows and they were taken directly to the royal chambers. Elrond entered the room in a hurry and stopped abruptly, Mariliel lay on a bed in convulsions and Thranduil tried to restrain his son who was screaming in fear and anguish. An elleth who had to be the healer he had written to stood by the bed, trying to get some sort of liquid into the princess. Thranduil stared at Elrond. "My old friend, the gods have sent you, we need your help!"

Elrond nodded sternly. "Indeed you do, I felt that I would be needed soon and left as soon as I could."

He saw that the healer was in despair, her eyes were dark and she was sweating. "My lord, please, help. I have no idea of what the problem is"

Elrond touched Mariliel's forehead, let his fëa reach out to hers and he jerked back, gasping. "This is truly serious, she is fading fast."

Legolas whimpered and his eyes were huge. "If she dies so will I, I cannot lose her."

Thranduil's eyes were filled with a deep despair and Elrond knew that if Mariliel died the entire royal family would become a memory and naught more. Thranduil wouldn't survive losing his son, not now.

Elrond got up, stared at Aeniel. " We have to get her to the infirmary now, and I need all your equipment and herbs"

Aeniel just nodded and the chamber maidens whimpered. "She was fine my lord, and then…it just happened."

Elrond took a look around the room, there was a huge pile of things on a table and he frowned. "What are those?"

Teniel answered. " Gifts, she had gotten a lot of them every day since we learned of the marriage"

Elrond got up as Aeniel shouted for some servants to get a stretcher. He walked over to the table and stared at the heap of clothing, textiles, toys and trinkets. There was a lot of nice stuff there and he felt as though Mariliel already had to be rather well liked by the population.

They carried Mariliel to the infirmary at break neck speed and Elrond administered some herbs he knew would make the muscles relax. Still her breathing was labored and she didn't wake up. The whole palace knew of it now, there were elves praying for the princess everywhere and Glorfindel and Aiwendil stood outside of the infirmary looking tense. The balrogslayer already knew that Aiwendil had some clue about the nature of the situation. He just refused to speak of it yet.

Elrond poured all of his energy into her, and Elrohir helped him. Elladan helped to calm Legolas since the two had been good friends for many centuries. Aeniel too tried to aid him and Elrond got a feeling of standing there pounding his head against a wall, they weren't getting anywhere. It was Elrohir who did notice it first, it was getting dark and they lit some lamps and the twin grasped Elronds sleeve and pointed. "Ada, look, her eyes"

Elrond saw it, immediately, and cursed because he hadn't seen it himself. Her pupils were dilated, way more than normal. Elrond felt cold, he immediately knew what this was and Thranduil sensed the change in his body language and leaned forward, eyes pleading. "What is it?"

Elrond sighed. "Does she have any enemies here? Would anyone want to harm her?"

Thranduil frowned. "No, she is loved by everyone, why would anybody wish her anything but the best?"

Elrond took a deep breath. "She has been poisoned, that is why!"

Thranduil just gaped and there was horror in his eyes and then Teniel let out a squeak. "There was a bowl of porridge among the gifts this morning, she ate it for breakfast."

Elrond swore. "Where is that bowl, get me it now!"

Teniel just ran and luckily the servants responsible for collecting table ware for washing hadn't been there yet. The bowl was unwashed and she ran back to Elrond with it, holding it on an arm's length, as if it could bite her.

Elrond sniffed the bowl, it smelled just like ordinary porridge but there was a very faint scent underneath it, a sort of moldy woodsy smell. The king stared and Legolas sat shivering in a chair, Elladan was trying to put a blanket around him but he just kept pushing it off. "What?"

Elrond bit his lower lip. "This was no accident my king, it was done deliberately. I recognize the smell"

Thranduil looked stunned. "You do?"

Elrond nodded and grasped some jars from Aeniel's storage shelves, he started mixing powders and ground up herbs with a lot of energy. "I have encountered this poison once before, when I was young and still learning. I was at the court of Gil-Galad when one of the courtier's wife suddenly collapsed and died. It was a terrible tragedy."

The healer turned to Aeniel. "Do you have any ground up roots of elderberry? Or dried blue lilies?"

Aeniel nodded and ran to find the items and Elrond continued. " The elleth had been poisoned by a rival, another elleth jealous of her social status. The poison was one the Naugrim uses to rid themselves of vermin."

Thranduil was blinking. "Dwarves?"

Elrond nodded. "Yes, there was much trade with dwarves for a while, before Doriath that was. The elleth had gotten the idea from them, and the method of making the poison."

He mixed the ingredients with wine and Aeniel returned with two jars. He added some from both of them and then he put the bowl over the fire. "You need a very rare mushroom to make the poison, it grows in very dark and wet places with little light."

Thranduil swallowed hard. "There are some odd mushrooms growing in the small lake underneath the palace, they are pale green and very pointy."

Elrond nodded, his face stern and his eyes ablaze. "That sounds like the right kind yes, they are dried and ground up and sprinkled onto food. The dwarves put it on grain or other tempting food and leaves it for the rats to devour. It is efficient."

Thranduil just growled. " I doubt thee not, so, what now?"

Elrond stirred the concoction in the bowl and Elrohir got a small bag from his father's equipment. "There is one cure for this poison, it is very devious and makes it impossible for the victim to breathe. I have made a mixture that ought to flush the poison from her body but her pregnancy makes it harder to do anything well."

He removed a sort of syringe from the bag and added a needle. Then he filtered the mixture through several layers of fine cloth. The result was a very thin liquid with a bright blue color. He filled the syringe with it and found a vein on Mariliel's arm, injected it slowly. "This will hopefully stop the damage but I cannot be sure."

Aeniel swallowed, she felt a wee bit jealous of Elrond's skills. "Is there anything else we ought to do?"

Elrond nodded and washed his hands. "Keep her hydrated. Get as much fluid into her as possible. "

Aeniel nodded. "Water?"

Elrond shrugged. "They say that milk is better."

Aeniel smiled swiftly and got to her feet. "I am right on it"

Legolas was still shivering. "Will she live?"

Elrond sighed. "She does have a chance, she is a strong young elleth with a fiery fëa so she will fight. We can just wait and pray"

Elladan stared at the unconscious Mariliel with dark eyes. "Who would want to hurt her?"

Thranduil stared at the peredhel with narrow eyes. "That is a good question, we have to find out"

Elrond touched Mariliel's forehead again, his gaze was distant. "It takes days to prepare the poison, perhaps even two weeks if the air is moist."

Thranduil growled. "Whoever did it must have started the day we announced the marriage."

Elrond nodded slowly. "That makes sense yes, the news triggered it and that speaks of either jealousy or envy. Mariliel haven't spent much time among the others here now has she?"

Aeniel shook her head. " My lord, I received your message and no, she has kept to herself most of the time, understandable now that we know, but I cannot imagine that anyone would become jealous of her? I know that the prince is popular and many ellith have been trying to catch his interest but I cannot imagine that anyone would want to murder her because of it?"

Elrond sat down and Thranduil did the same, he looked very tired and Elrond waved his hand at the servant by the door. "Let Glorfindel and Aiwendil enter, I fear we will need their help here"

Legolas sat down by Mariliel, she was breathing easier by now but she was still very pale and sweaty and she didn't look good at all. "Will the baby be alright?"

His voice was pleading and Elrond tried to smile. "Her body will protect it, worry not"

The king cocked his head, the iceblue eyes were calculating. " Could the goal of this have been to induce a miscarriage?"

Elrond nodded. "It is very possible yes, but the smell is strong, whoever did this used a lot of ground up mushroom. It could be that the person is very inexperienced and overdid it a lot or it could be that she was the target after all"

Thranduil bit his lower lip and Glorfindel and Aiwendil came and sat down, a servant threw more wood onto the fire and Aeniel sat by Mariliel to keep an eye on her. Glorfindel saw that Elrond was worried and he touched his sword almost lovingly. "The one who did this may try again, I think it would be wise to not tell anyone of how Mariliel is faring. If they think she is dying it would be safer"

Thranduil sighed. " I will place guards outside of these doors, nobody is to enter without my permission."

Aiwendil blinked, he did look a bit like a squirrel who has spotted a nice nut, guarded by some fearsome beast. "Come on, we are bright people right? Elrond told you that this is a type of poison used by dwarves, the guilty person has to be one with knowledge, not some nitwit. And he or she has to have a reason to bear a grudge against Mariliel, however small"

Thranduil tried to think but his worries were too great, he couldn't relax at all. "There are some elves here who have had contact with the dwarves, I have had envoys sent to Erebor and some have lived there too for a while, to establish trading and stuff"

Elrond was thinking hard. "Then I would investigate them first and foremost but remember, it has to be discrete. The dwarves didn't share the secret of that poison with everybody, it was a very well kept secret and I only learned of it because I healed the son of a dwarf of some power."

Thranduil got up. " I will have my best look into it, there can be no secrets within this realm of which I remain ignorant."

Elrond knew that Thranduil was a very strict ruler but one who truly cared about his subjects and this had scared him to the bone. What if Mariliel wasn't the only target? Elrond got up too and shook the king's hand. "From now on, have some taste all your food and drink and that goes for the prince too. It could be that the royal family is the target as a whole"

The king sent Elrond a very stiff grin. " I hope not, but we are prepared."

Elrohir and Aeniel sat by Mariliel's side that night, she got better and they force fed her milk as often as possible and her color got better but she didn't wake up. The king informed that the princess was suffering from some sort of complications and that she would be fine and people were relieved but the rumors were already flying. Was she losing her child? Aiwendil and Glorfindel got called to Elrond's room, the healer looked very grim. "She has been through a lot my friends and I fear for her safety. Glorfindel, there is only one warrior here able to compare himself with you and that is the king. He cannot be seen leaving his duties behind so it falls on you to guard Mariliel and the prince. Aiwendil, you are capable of sensing it if anyone use some sort of dark powers, shelter the palace. If anyone leaves this place, let us know!"

The wizard nodded and Elrond stared at the flames of the hearth with narrow eyes. "We will find the one responsible for this and punish that person hard."

Thranduil couldn't sleep that night, his mind was raging and he was on this third decanter of wine when Legolas entered his chambers. He looked terrible and Thranduil embraced him hard. " Oh ion nin, I would never wish for you to feel such pain, never. I wish Eru could strike me instead, Mariliel is the light of our lives now"

Legolas sobbed. "She is ada, I am so scared. We have guards and everything but when can we stop being afraid? We have to find the culprit, what if he or she goes after our child whence it is born?"

Thranduil shuddered. "I know, Glorfindel and Aiwendil have already gotten their orders from Elrond and the twins are joining them. They are smart, they will find the solution and find the one behind this"

Legolas just sighed and pressed his face against his father's shoulder. His ada's scent did always calm him down, he felt safe like this. Thranduil embraced him firmly, held him close. "It will be alright, she will make it, and the baby too. The valar aren't that cruel"

Legolas didn't answer, he just hoped that his father was right.

The next day the palace was very quiet and Elrond and Aeniel spent much of it with Mariliel, she was still unconscious but Elrond believed that to be a good thing, her body was healing itself and needed the energy. He gave her more antidote and Aeniel rubbed her arms and legs and monitored her breathing and heartbeat all the time. Elrond was impressed by the silvan healer and as the day went the two developed a very nice friendship. Aeniel was curious about the noldorin knowledge of the healing arts and Elrond was curious too about Aeniels ancient knowledge and they quickly realized that they were working very well together. Elrohir took his father's place when Elrond went for breaks and Aeniel had plenty of time to get to know the twin too. Elladan was out with Glorfindel, trying to see if anyone had noticed anything out of the ordinary and Thranduil's counsellors and servants were questioning the elves who had been to Erebor.

Thranduil received a rapport from Galion early that evening, everybody who had ever been in contact with the dwarves of Erebor had been asked and nobody had revealed any knowledge of the poison nor any wish to harm the princess. Aiwendil had been there during the interrogations and nobody had been lying, they all told the truth. Everybody in the palace were nervous on the princess behalf and there were still prayers being sung for her. Legolas didn't leave the palace at all, he was in her room or close by the whole time and Galion was working like a horse trying to make him eat.

Mariliel was recovering but it went so slowly, and Elrond realized that the dose of poison had been huge, almost ridiculously so. It had been enough poison to kill at least five adult elves and he believed Aiwendil when he claimed that the fëa of her unborn child in fact had saved her. That elfling would be born with powers none of them could even hope to comprehend and that made them all feel rather humble. But they didn't at all understand who had poisoned her, or why! Thranduil's servants didn't find even the slightest clue and all the ellith in the palace were interrogated by order of the king. None of them revealed a wish to kill Mariliel, a few were disappointed of course and some angry but they would never turn to kinslaying just because the prince had married someone else than themselves.

It was a mystery and one that just deepened and then Mariliel woke up again and was so weak and frail she had to stay in bed for at least a month. Elrond would not leave until she had given birth, he wanted to make sure that her baby was strong and healthy and Mariliel was very grateful but also very scared. She understood that she had been close to dying and Namo would not let her off the hook one more time for sure. Aeniel was trading knowledge with Elrond and Elrohir and Elladan were secretly trying to make the two healers spend as much time together as possible, they thought that Aeniel was good for their father and he had gotten a bit more joyful after he met her.

Aeniel was going through her storages and showing Elrond the herbs and medicines she gathered from the woods when she suddenly did notice that one of her closets were left ajar. Inside of it she kept her letters and notes and she frowned and saw that things were out of order. She got angry and shouted at her assistant who were responsible for keeping everything tidy. "Have you made a mess of this?"

Elrond had already figured out that Aeniel was very fond of tidiness and he liked that. The assistant shook her head. "No my lady, I found that closet like that weeks ago, I haven't touched it since."

Aeniel blinked, her eyes got huge and she opened the closet again, there were letters in there regarding patients and she didn't want that sort of information to be publicly known. The letter she had received from Elrond was on top of the pile, it had arrived just before Mariliel and Legolas returned and she had just skimmed through it. She grasped it and saw that the seal had been left open, she had closed it, she always did.

Elrond saw her expression and frowned. " What is wrong?"

Aeniel stared at him, she let go of the letter. "We have been fools Elrond, we have all been fools. We thought this was about love, about someone jealous of Mariliel."

Elrond got confused. "What are you trying to tell me?"

Aeniel spun around on her heel, her expression frantic. "It is about hate Elrond, ancient well-groomed hate!"

Elrond cocked his head. " I am afraid I don't quite follow you?"

Aeniel grasped the letter, shook it in front of his face. " She is a descendant of the Fëanorians Elrond, and this letter proves it! Somebody wants her dead because of her forefathers!"

Elrond blinked twice, then he went pale. " Oh Eru! We have to tell the king"

Aeniel grasped him by the hand. " Yes, and right now! The silvan never had much dealings with the kinslayings and the oath and all, but the sindar did, and there are sindar here who survived Doriath!"

Elrond ran with her. "The councilors!"

Aeniel nodded. "Exactly, and they can go wherever they like too, without arising suspicion"

The two elves ran as fast as they could, the culprit could be someone they knew and trusted.


	12. The hand of doom

Chapter 12: The hand of doom

Aeniel and Elrond ran through the palace but they tried to avoid being seen by anyone. Right now the culprit could be just about anyone and they didn't want to warn the evil doer of the fact that they had discovered anything. They slowed down as they approached the huge chamber where the king held his meetings, he was in a meeting right now and they didn't want to interrupt him but this was so serious they felt that they had to. There were guards placed outside of the doors and Aeniel spoke to them in an ancient version of silvan, the sindar didn't speak that dialect at all since it was used so rarely. The guards stared at each other, then the one of the highest rank entered the chamber to alert the king of the fact that the healer and Elrond was there.

It wasn't long before the king appeared, he looked a bit worried and Elrond swallowed hard. He had sent that letter on a whim and had forgotten about it, he had just wanted to ensure the healer of the fact that he had received the letter she had sent him and had mentioned his findings in it, just to write something sensible. He didn't really know what to say and Aeniel made a grimace. "Your highness, we have discovered the cause of the attack. Before Mariliel and Legolas returned from the woods I received a letter from Elrond, and it told of the fact that she is a descendant of Fêanor. "

Thranduil gasped and his eyes got huge, he swallowed hard, then his face again looked like marble, hard and free of emotion. Only the vicious sparkle within his eyes told them he was furious and scared at the same time. "You are sure?!"

Aeniel nodded. "It is the only possible reason why anyone would want to harm her. Someone here hates her because of her ancestors, enough to do the same crime they did."

Thranduil was truly angry now, they could see it in his eyes and the way his jaw muscles swelled. "A Doriathrin survivor, we have quite a large group of possible suspects then"

Elrond made a vague gesture. "Oh, it could of course be the child of someone who died at Doriath, or someone else who has lost someone to the kinslayings? Or someone who just hates the ancient noldor because of who they are and what they did without being personally affected."

Thranduil shook his head. "No, this is personal, the determination behind this tells me so. The culprit hates Elrond, and that hatred is focused and strong. It is not some vague emotions directed towards just about anyone with roots back in those days. No, the culprit went into action the moment the truth was told, and I do believe that he or she must have had a grudge against Mariliel ever since she came to this place. If not that person would not have tried to read letters addressed to Aeniel."

Aeniel nodded. " You are right, Mariliel is after all rather unique, her red hair does give her away after all. It is rare outside of the family of Mahtan."

Elrond took a deep breath. "So, how are we to find the one behind this misery, before he or she strikes again? I bet the guilty one won't quit until Mariliel is dead"

Thranduil looked thoughtful. " I can get Galion to make a list of everybody who followed my father out of Beleriand, some does not live here in the palace and barely visits so we can remove them from the list I am sure, It had to be someone who had access to the entire palace, someone who will arise no suspicion at all if they are seen even near the royal chambers."

Elrond cocked his head. "Your councilors?"

Thranduil nodded. "Yes, and some noblemen not part of the council too, and maybe even a few of their servants. We are speaking of more than a hundred elves my friends."

Aeniel moaned. " Oh Eru, it will be like finding a needle in a haystack"

Thranduil frowned, and his eyes were distant. "Maybe, but I think we have to play this game in a manner nobody will expect."

Elrond looked a bit puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Thranduil sneered, the fire blazing in his eyes was very cold. "We have to flush the beast out, force it to reveal itself. And I think I know how!"

Aeniel frowned and she had gotten closer to Elrond, without really knowing it. "What do you mean?"

Thranduil smiled, a very devious grin. "You will see, the less you know the better"

He turned on his heel to return to the meeting and Elrond and Aeniel stood there, staring at each other, both wondering what the king was up to. Thranduil was old and wise and very devious and Elrond felt a twinge of reluctant admiration, he had no doubt about the king's ability to be sly enough to fool the culprit out into the open.

Mariliel was bored and she had gotten some board games and sat there playing with Teniel when Legolas entered, he smiled and kissed her, but there was anxiety in his violet blue eyes and she immediately sensed that something was off. She was too weak to leave the bed and she was still being fed milk every second hour and she was already terribly tired of the liquid. "What is it?"

Legolas took her hand. "Aeniel and Elrond has discovered the likely cause behind your attack, it is because of your ancestors.."

Mariliel just gaped, then she suddenly felt very cold, and very nervous. She could understand now, it had a cause and that cause made her shiver. She knew how much some had hated the sons of Fëanor and that hatred still lived within many. " Oh Eru, I had no idea! So now what?"

Legolas caressed her hand. " Ada has a plan, he is gonna reveal it later today, there is going to be a public meeting."

Mariliel bit her lower lip. " I trust your father Legolas, but are you sure he knows what he is doing?"

Legolas nodded sternly. " Yes, he haven't told me the details, but I am sure it is a good plan. He knows his subjects and he knows how to manipulate them. It will be alright, there will be extra guards placed everywhere, even in here."

Mariliel felt cold still. "I am worried Legolas, I just feel it, something is gonna happen"

He kissed her again. "Not while I still draw breath, do not worry my love, I will protect you"

She clung to him, still feeling that odd hollow feeling within her chest. He was of course going to stick to his words but she feared that it wouldn't be enough"

Later that evening everybody was gathered in the great hall, the king had an announcement to make and people were curious. The king didn't speak until he saw that everybody living in the palace were present except from Mariliel and her guards. Aiwendil stood by his side and he was holding some sort of old book, the wizard looked stern and that was quite a feat for normally he was joviality personified. Thranduil raised a hand and everybody went silent, the king looked very majestic and more so, he looked angry. Most had seen his wrath at some occasion and feared it, he had a terrible temper. " My loyal subjects, I have gathered you here today to tell you that our beloved princess has been the victim of a most foul and vicious attack. Someone tried to poison her and even though she is going to pull through and be alright I am sure we all agree that the guilty one has to be found and punished"

There was a murmur spreading through the crowd, poisoned? That was outrageous, what elf would do that to someone else? Surely some deranged and mad soul! The crowd was very angry and Thranduil smiled to himself. This was just what he wanted. He raised his hand once more and the crowd stared at him, expectantly. "My friends, here I have Aiwendil of the Istari, he is a maia, and he has great powers at his command. He has agreed to use his magic to find the culprit, it could take some days so please, if you, any of you, see something suspicious do not hesitate to tell us of it"

There was a sound of cheering and Aiwendil took a step forth. "I need to focus my magic, or else I would be able to pick the guilty one out of the crowd right now, however, there is no escape, I can guarantee that the one behind the terrible attack will be found soon and punished"

More cheering and Thranduil smirked. From now on everybody would keep an eye on all others and few if any would be able to do anything odd without being noticed. And the culprit would have to act now, before he or she was exposed. Everybody knew of the powers of the Istari and they didn't doubt his words at all. There were guards everywhere and now they could just wait for the culprit to do something stupid.

That night was a tense one within the realm of the wood elves, there were suspicious eyes everywhere and the atmosphere was one of controlled disgust and scorn. That they had shared their home with a possible murderer made most elves cringe in disgust and the gossip was rather vicious that night. What would the king do to the culprit once he or she was caught? He wouldn't kill the elf, but they expected a rather suiting punishment for sure.

The sun had just gotten up and the palace was buzzing with life when there was a loud shout from the storage area, they had several rooms where they stored everything from linen to food and now there was a fire blazing in a room reserved for table cloth and other decorative items. Someone had probably forgotten a lamp or something but the result was a huge blaze and everybody came running to help put it out. Glorfindel also helped out and he was covered in sooth and rather stinky when the fire finally was stopped. The whole room was scorched and most of the content utterly ruined but nobody had gotten hurt and the balrog slayer stared at the piles of ashes that had been the beautiful items the king probably treasured a lot. He felt sad but then he suddenly saw something that made him run forth with a gasp. There were shelves in the room and although they were burned black they still stood and underneath one of them there was a lamp, surrounded by a lot of ashes. This was no accident!

He realized the truth within a split second and swore so bad Galion just gaped with enormous eyes. "It was a decoy! Morgoth's hairy balls!"

Glorfindel ran out of the room so fast his hair flew behind him and he rushed by the king who came to see the damage for himself, Thranduil stared at the running warrior with a frown, then it dawned upon him too and he started to scream orders. Galion just stood there frozen in shock, he hadn't expected the famous hero to use such a profane language.

Glorfindel ran to the stables and the stable master came out to greet him, the elf looked confused. The golden haired ellon almost sneered. " Quick, are there any horses missing?"

The stable master frowned. "No? Not that I know of, I have just been out to check upon a few of our broodmares and everybody was here when I left?"

Glorfindel growled. "Check again!"

The stable master entered the huge stable, there were some entrances that lead straight out of the palace since it was impractical to take the horses through the main entrance but they could be hidden and blocked quite easily. The stable master clicked his tongue and all the horses raised their heads and stared towards him and he suddenly froze. "Ah my lord, two horses are missing"

Glorfindel swore again. "Quick, your fastest horse, the culprit cannot have gotten far ahead"

The stable master made a grimace. "Uh, that would be Morirocco, he is the kings personal favorite and I don't think the king would allow…"

He was too late, Glorfindel had already opened the door to the box in which the massive black stallion stood and he was onto his back in just one jump. "Get out of the way or be trampled"

The stablemaster wisely stepped out of the way and Glorfindel saw that one of the entrances was left ajar. He kicked the huge stallion into a gallop and the horse just kicked the door open and shot through it like a black lightening.

There were fresh hoof prints in the soft soil, there had been a swift shower of rain that night and it made the tracks easy to follow. Glorfindel leaned forward and urged the horse on, he had barely ridden a better horse, his own favorite was perhaps a bit faster but not as strong, this horse was heavier and his strides longer and he made the ground shake underneath steel hard hooves. Glorfindel reached out, tried to connect with the woods and to his surprise he did manage to tune in to the trees. A rider with a horse in tow had passed as the sun rose and Glorfindel begged the trees to tell the king of this and send more riders to his aid.

The rider was an hour ahead of him, but even if he was riding hard and had an extra horse Glorfindel felt confident that he would be able to catch up with him. There could only be one reason why someone fled the palace in such a manner, the elf had almost signed his name on the declaration of guilt. Glorfindel bared his teeth, he had his sword by his side, he didn't need more than that.

Back at the palace Thranduil had organized for a group of warriors to follow Glorfindel, the forest was shouting to him and urging him to hurry. He was a bit angry that Glorfindel had taken his favorite horse but he knew that nobody could ride Morirocco like Glorfindel, he was renowned for being an expert rider and with that stallion under him he would catch the fleeing attacker rather fast. Thranduil had sent his best warriors riding fast horses and he had no doubt that they would return with the culprit. He preferred alive of course but if Glorfindel did kill the bastard he wouldn't blame him at all.

Glorfindel let the horse do his job, the mighty stallion wasn't even breaking a sweat yet and he just got faster as he got warmer. He could feel that the strides were getting even longer and he saw that the horse had understood his job, he was following the hoof prints and Glorfindel smiled, a very pleased and narrow grin. He could see that the two horses had slowed down a bit. The rider had to think that he was safe, what a fool! The forest covered several hills and as Morirocco rushed out onto a hilltop Glorfindel could see a faint glimpse of something shiny in the distance, it was another rider and he couldn't be more than a few miles ahead of him. Glorfindel urged his horse on and the rider in the distance probably heard the hoofbeats for he suddenly kicked his horse into gallop again. But Glorfindel just knew it, the elf wouldn't be able to keep the distance at all.

The trees had already told him that ten warriors were in hot pursuit by now and Glorfindel knew they too would catch up with him rather fast, he told the trees where he was and that the riders could use short cuts and now Morirocco was running downhill and breaking every speed record ever made by horse and rider. Glorfindel felt like flying and the stallion wasn't even slowing down when they started climbing the next hill. Morirocco loved using his strength and this race was one he was going to win. They rounded a cliff and there they almost collided with an exhausted gelding which stood in the middle of the path panting hard. The bastard had almost ridden it to death and Glorfindel swore and Morirocco neighed and ran even faster.

Glorfindel could see the rider now, it was an ellon, clearly a sinda dressed in rather good clothes and he was urging the grey mare he rode on with huge movements. He was clearly an untrained rider and not aware of how to properly use the strength of the horse. They were riding downhill again and Glorfindel saw that the mare was having a hard time already, it wasn't a horse bred for long runs at all, it was probably a lady's horse, trained to carry its mistress on slow trots around the palace and it didn't have the strength to carry an ellon at full gallop for a long time. The poor horse was breathing hard and Glorfindel could hear it, he swore again. He had to catch up with them before that moron rode this good horse to death. The hill was rather steep and at the bottom there was a narrow river, it was rather swift running and the current strong and Glorfindel moaned, it was perfectly jumpable but could that idiot do that?

He tried, he clung to the grey mane and kicked the mare relentlessly and the poor animal did try. She was off balance and too tired to really gather herself for the jump and so she landed like a ragdoll, more or less on her chest. The rider was flung off as if shot from a catapult and Glorfindel cringed, he could hear the sound of the mare's neck breaking, as if someone snapped a dead branch. The rider got up and tried to run but now Morirocco jumped the river and Glorfindel steered the huge stallion right at the running ellon.

Morirocco hit the back of the ellon with his shoulder, like a rockslide hits a small cabin and the ellon was flung over and that moment Glorfindel was out of the saddle and on the ground in one fleeting catlike movement. The ellon was ashen grey and his eyes were huge, he was bleeding from a cut above his eyebrow and he was shivering. Glorfindel was angry, no, he was almost livid with rage and pulled his sword. "Draw your blade you coward or be cut down where you stand like the bastard you are!"

The ellon did draw his blade, it was a narrow and very elegant weapon but Glorfindel immediately saw that this was an ellon who never had received any sort of weapons training at all. He wasn't even able to hold the sword properly and Glorfindel just growled and knocked the sword out of his hand with his own. The ellon let out a shriek of fear and tried to run but Glorfindel grasped him by the long silvery braid and tossed him to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He held the tip of his blade towards the ellon's throat and the elf was in fact crying, he wasn't even trying to protect himself in any way and Glorfindel frowned. Was this a cold hearted killer? He was way too young! "How old are you!"

The ellon squeaked. "Seven hundred and fifty two"

Glorfindel felt his heart thundering in his chest, could it be… "So, you are the one who poisoned the princess wine and almost killed her"

The ellon nodded frantically, he was sobbing. " Yes, yes, it was me, I put poison in her wine, it was me the whole time, I swear"

Glorfindel swore again, and the ellon on the ground just stared, he had never heard such language ever. "So, who is it you are protecting, I don't believe a word you are saying lad, you couldn't have poisoned a fly! It was her porridge that got poisoned, not her wine! I know your kind too darn well and you are lying but not very well."

The ellon squeaked again. "No….nobody. It was me, I swear it was me, because…because she is a Fëanorion, and they…they were bad"

Glorfindel rolled his eyes. " Oh for Eru's sake, you don't even know why do you? I am asking one more time, who are you protecting!"

The ellon just pressed his lips together like a stubborn toddler and Glorfindel sighed and kicked the other elf in the groin, rather hard. The ellon let out a hoarse cry and curled up in a ball, eyes bulging and mouth wide open. "You will answer me now, or I will use my blade the next time, answer while you still have your elfhood intact!"

The young ellon sobbed, he was even paler now and also a bit green, it was very obvious that he was a rather spoiled person, one who never had had to work hard a day of his life. The hands were soft and there wasn't a callous to see and there were some ink stains on his sleeves. A scribe. He mewled. " Please, she will…she will be so cross…I do not want to disappoint her, please!"

Glorfindel kneeled down, grasped the ellon by his collar. " She? You are too young to be controlled by a wife, and I don't think anyone would take the blame for a sister, so your mother right?"

The ellon cringed and his gaze sort of wandered and Glorfindel knew he was right. "Okay, what is her name!"

The ellon stuttered. "La….Lagonda, please, don't…don't kill me"

Glorfindel just dropped the weeping lad, he had heard that name, oh yes, now he knew who it was and his blood did run cold. The warriors Thranduil had sent suddenly rushed into the small clearing and stopped their horses, staring in disbelief at the scene in front of them. "We have been tricked yet again, this is the culprit's son"

The captain leading the group stared at the ellon with huge eyes. " Ingrion? Oh Eru, that means that…."

Glorfindel nodded and jumped back onto the black stallion. " Yes, so tie this one up and bring him back to the palace, I have to ride harder than ever"

He spurred the stallion and was thankful that this horse had strength left for yet another sprint, and this time it would be a real race against time.

Mariliel and her two maidens were busy playing a game of chess, normally Mariliel didn't have the patience for such a game but now she felt that she lacked energy to a point where it was alright to just sit there. Legolas and Thranduil were there too, both discussing the fire and the things that had happened and Legolas was quite energetic and Thranduil had to work hard to calm him down. The servants had brought some food and wine and Galion had tasted it all, he sat by the fireplace and tried to make a list of the small patches of land they used to grow vegetables for the household. They needed to rotate the different patches every now and then not to exhaust the soil and it was quite a job since the small fields were of different size and in different places. You couldn't plant things that needed a lot of sun in a shady location or vice versa and now he was having quite a headache trying to make all the pieces of this puzzle fit together before they were to put seeds in the ground.

He yawned and sighed, feeling very tired. After a while he dropped his papers and pen and leaned against the wall, soundly asleep and Thranduil saw it and smiled, his butler was working too hard, he deserved a little nap. But they all started to feel a bit drowsy, the room was comfortable and a bit dark and the tense atmosphere was taking its toll of them all, Thranduil frowned and yawned, he felt a bit silly doing it but by Eru, he was so sleepy. Legolas was half asleep and trying desperately to stay awake and Teniel and Logonde were having a yawning contest. Mariliel on the other hand didn't feel sleepy at all, she felt odd. As if she was filled with some sort of reckless energy. She saw that the others were half asleep by now and Logonde had in fact fallen asleep, she was drooling on the blanket and Mariliel giggled, she would be so embarrassed when they told her. Then it struck her, everybody was this sleepy? That wasn't normal, that wasn't normal at all! They were elves, not humans. Mariliel realized she was in danger and shook Teniel hard but she didn't wake up, she kept snoring blissfully and Mariliel let out a shout. The guards would enter the moment they heard something out of the ordinary but nobody came.

Thranduil hadn't fallen asleep yet, he too realized that something was wrong and fought his sleepiness with all of his might. He was old, and strong and his body was bigger than most, he realized they had been drugged and it took longer for him to be affected than most. He started chanting, ancient songs of power taught to him by the wise of Doriath, taught by Melian herself. He rarely used what he had learned for there wasn't any need for it but the songs sort of cleared his head, made his body flush the drug from his system but it wasn't working fast enough. He managed to get to the bed where Mariliel sat, petrified and scared. There he collapsed and she just stared at him with huge eyes, what was she to do now.?

Glorfindel was riding hard, and now he used the short cuts for all they were worth, He had twigs in his hair and blood streamed down his face from where a branch had hit him but he didn't care. The horse ran so fast the forest almost became a blur around him and Glorfindel could just hang on for dear life and pray they wouldn't be too late. The culprit was one nobody would suspect, someone who indeed had been right up underneath their noses the whole time.

Mariliel tried to get out of bed, her legs so weak they barely could carry her weight and she was shivering all over. She was leaning onto the end of the bed when the door opened and an elleth entered, she was wearing a cloak and she had a small dagger in her hand and Mariliel suddenly knew who this was. There was flaming hatred in the silvery haired elleth's eyes and she attacked the moment the door closed. Rushed forth with her dagger held high for strike and Mariliel had little time to think. She grasped the first thing her hands could find and it was the chessboard. She used it as a shield as the attacker tried to stab her, pieces of the board flew everywhere and the little training Mariliel had received came to good use now. She did manage to avoid the blows and used the bed to shield her back. Her heart was beating like a drum and she knew she couldn't stay upright much longer, she simply wasn't strong enough yet. The elleth growled. " You little cunt, you have no business mixing the pure blood of the sindar with that noldorin filth you are carrying within your veins, I am doing the realm a favor!"

Mariliel screamed and threw the bedspread at the elleth who just threw it off, the chessboard had disintegrated now and was of no use. Mariliel was grasping onto the bed again for support, close to the king and felt something hard under his robes, his sword! The king never went anywhere without at least one sword and Mariliel grasped the hilt in despair. She pulled the elegant weapon free from the scabbard and it was heavy! It was way too heavy for her but she did lift it and managed to parry off yet another attack, she didn't want to kill the other elleth and her lack of aggression almost became her downfall. The other elleth knocked the blade from her hand and grasped it for herself. " How befitting that you are to find your end at the blade of a true sindar king"

Suddenly something just burst, the old untamed Mariliel rushed forth, and with it her uncouth uncivilized side. She screamed in rage and grasped the decanter of wine that stood on the nightstand, tossed it at the attacker who had to duck to avoid it. "You are not going to harm my baby you dirty old goose!"

Mariliel grasped the dagger the elleth had discarded and threw it, rather hard. It hit, embedded itself in the elleth's right shoulder and the female let out a shriek of pain and tried to dislodge it. That gave Mariliel the chance to stagger to the fireplace where she grasped onto a burning log of wood and threw it at the elleth. It struck her right in her solar plexus and her dress caught fire, the elleth screamed and tried to get rid of the flames but she didn't let go of the sword. Mariliel was unable to stay upright, she collapsed onto the floor and was staring death in the eye when the door flew open again. In ran a vision of sheer rage and elegance, Glorfindel was panting, he had ridden Morirocco straight into the palace, and luckily the horse was both brave and dexterous for they had galloped up stairs and over bridges. He threw himself forward and his blade met that of the elleth with a clang. The elleth let out a yell of pain and the golden balrog slayer just wrung the blade from her hand and grasped her by the throat, lifted her off the floor. " You treacherous bitch! I am so sorry I'm not the murderous kind or else I would have jabbed this blade straight through that dark heart of yours right now!"

The elleth gargled and kicked but she was not strong enough to fight Glorfindel and just then Elrond and Aeniel rushed into the room and saw that everybody was laying as if they were dead and Glorfindel was holding a kicking elleth up by the neck and he looked as if he was facing yet another balrog. Aeniel just passed out and Elrond had to take care of her but to his relief he realized that most of the elves in the room were simply sleeping, only Mariliel was affected by the attacker in any other way and she was just exhausted, not hurt. He hauled her onto the bed while Glorfindel unceremoniously tied the elleth up with pieces of bedspread. She looked like a ham afterwards. He even gagged her and Elrond stared at the sinda with narrow eyes. "Who is she?"

Glorfindel growled. "The cook responsible for cooking for the royal family, oh I bet Thranduil will blow a fuse when he wakes up. She cannot expect any sort of mercy, not from him!"

Elrond just swallowed, the royal cook? Oh that made sense in an odd manner, she would know of everything that happened and have a sort of personal connection to the royals. And she was old enough to be a survivor of Doriath for sure. Glorfindel had seen that the guards too were asleep but they started to wake up again and he managed to get hold of new guards who were very much awake. They immediately hauled Lagonda off to the dungeons with a strict order of keeping an eye on her and Elrond managed to check Mariliel over thoroughly. She had over exerted herself but she had managed to avoid death by a hairs width and would be fine again, once the shock wore itself out. Legolas and Thranduil woke up again, Legolas immediately burst into tears, terrified that she would feel that he had let her down in any way and Thranduil did indeed blow a fuse, in fact he blew a lot of them and he was more furious than anyone ever had seen him before.

Lagonda's son was interrogated and told them his mother had ordered him to flee and he had been too afraid to disobey her. Apparently she had ruled everything he did his whole life. Thranduil didn't punish him that hard, he just banished him from the woodland realm for the next millennia and it appeared as if the young ellon almost liked that. He had probably never seen anything of the world before.

Lagonda on the other hand was another case altogether. She had abused her position, betrayed the trust laid upon her and tried to commit murder several times. That meant that the king couldn't be lenient on her and neither did he want to be. He waited until they were sure that Mariliel would be alright, then he gathered his people to let them know of Lagonda's fate. She was dragged forth in chains, her hair shorn off and Thranduil told everybody how her anger and hatred had been allowed to fester within her. How her reason and common sense had been pushed aside by a petty thirst for vengeance, wrought upon someone innocent of her forefather's sins. He told them how she had poisoned her son's mind, and then attempted to kill the princess, he told them of her horrible racist ideas and old grudges and the silvan were aghast.

Thranduil had gathered some of the silvan elves who had a very special task, they were specialists at the art of tattooing. It was something a few silvan had done when they reached their majority and now these artists were given another task, one they never had had before. Before the entire population Lagonda was stripped naked and tied up, then the tattooist wrote her sins onto her skin, for all too see. In clear black cirth everybody could read and also in tengwar. It was written across her forehead and chest and down her arms and even if she was writhing and squealing nobody showed her any pity, not even the other sindar there. The past was the past, and they didn't want to awaken the sleeping beast that the memory of the kinslayings were. Then Thranduil told everybody that Lagonda was to be taken to the gray havens and put onto a ship. She was to leave middle earth forever and the valar would be her final judges. It seemed that everybody was pleased with the king's decision.

Lagonda was dragged away once more, there would be a group of warriors escorting her to the havens the next day and everybody felt that this was the best solution for everybody. Galion was the one who was most shocked by finding out who the culprit had been, he had worked with that elleth for ages and she had never revealed that she felt such hatred against the family of Fêanor and its descendants. But it was rather obvious that her anger and hatred had been allowed to grow and fester within her for way too long. Galion knew that she had lost a sister and her mother during the sack of Doriath and she had probably never been able to just put the past behind her the way others did.

Mariliel started to recover, it took time and quite some patience for her old temper started to flare again, she was tired and felt uncomfortable much of the time and Elrond did recognize her now. Another thing that affected her was her raging hormones and sometimes they could cause some rather odd and unforeseen effects. First of all, her appetite for those newly discovered pleasures raged and she often commanded her maids out of the room so she and her husband could go for it. That was apparently normal in this stage of pregnancy and then came the odd appetites for other things, She spent days screaming for fresh oysters and since there were some types of it living in the long lake the king had riders sent out to buy several baskets of the crustaceans. Then it was fresh beets, chalk, and she even wanted raw liver for a few days. Elrond had to laugh when he saw Legolas face, the prince was rather shocked by all he odd demands.

Mariliel did overcome the damages done by the poison but she wasn't out of the woods until the baby was born so Elrond kept her under tight surveillance and the twins tried to keep Legolas occupied with hunting and stories so he wouldn't worry too much. Aeniel and Elrond seemed to have grown even closer now and the twins were sure they had seen their father come sneaking back to his own chambers just before dawn at least once. They found that rather endearing, he needed someone in his life now, and they liked Aeniel a lot. She had sort of reawakened the spark in him and given him renewed joy in his calling.

The autumn was replaced by winter and then spring changed into summer yet again and Mariliel was getting huge, and she was confided to the bedchamber now. Elrond had forbidden her and Legolas from indulging in certain activities now and she was grumpy because of it but did understand why. She felt like a beached whale and had problems moving around and the baby was very active and prevented her from having a good night's sleep. She often felt his fëa caressing her own, and Legolas felt it too, he would often lay there with a hand on her belly, gently talking to the little one and telling him of the world he was about to enter.

As Mariliel's due day got closer everybody was getting noticeably more nervous, even Thranduil seemed to lose his calm demeanor and was seen pacing back and forth with nervous steps. It was his first grandchild after all and he was terrified that anything would happen to Mariliel or the little one. Elrond was a bit nervous too, Mariliel was after all rather special and he knew she was far from fond of pain. The baby was big and strong and it was her first so he expected it to take a long time.

The birth started in the middle of the night and Elrond was a bit shocked. Things moved ahead at breakneck speed compared with other births he had attended to and the local midwife they had called to assist called it a "rush-birth"

Mariliel was herself even now, she was cursing and swearing so bad the midwife suggested that they should gag her not to hurt the ears of the innocent little one, and then she screamed so bad everybody could hear it. Aiwendil had left for he had to return to his home but Glorfindel had stayed to hunt with the twins and Legolas and he has sincerely shocked by the volume of her lungs, and the strength not the least.

It took just seven hours in all and that was a very swift birth by elven standards. Most took more than a day and Elrond suspected that the spirit of the child sort of helped out. Mariliel was exhausted but overjoyed when her son was placed in her arms for the first time and so was Legolas. He started to cry and so did his father, although discretely. That evening there was a huge party held in the palace and the morning after everybody was hung over and happy and Glorfindel woke up in bed with three very shapely ellith and a handsome guard and couldn't remember anything. Thranduil was found blissfully snoring behind his throne and Galion had to drag him back to his chambers and Legolas and Mariliel stayed in her chamber with their son for several days, learning to know the new little addition to the family. Mariliel knew her vision had been true, this was a true protector of the forests, she could feel it. The trees had been singing when he was born and already he was speaking to them. These woods would be protected forever more by a favorite of Yavanna, nothing would be allowed to harm them.

They had a naming ceremony in front of the entire realm and the prince was named Aravaldir, the noble and divinely powerful one. It was very obvious that Yavanna favored this one a lot. Things slowly returned to normal and Elrond and his sons and Glorfindel was to return to Imladris, the night before they left Elrond and Thranduil had a small meeting, sharing some wine and gossip and Thranduil smiled and toasted his guest. "Here's to us, and our little devious plan"

Elrond grinned. "It came so close to disaster but thank Eru, it turned out well"

Thranduil smiled, his eyes softer than before, more gentle. Having a grandchild had mellowed him down a lot and he was showing a new side to him now, a more warm and affectionate one. Everybody saw that change and welcomed it too. "Yes, yes it turned out well, thanks to you and Aeniel. I am forever grateful!"

Elrond just blushed, Aeniel was to visit Imladris come next spring and he already knew that their relationship would become even stronger as the years passed by. Yes, that little plan had come to a glorious end and nobody was more thrilled by that than him, but it could have ended in tragedy and for the future he would forget about playing matchmaker. Never again!

When Aravaldir almost had come of age Mariliel gave birth to twins and so her vision did come true. She trusted in it and when Legolas left to join the fellowship she was the only one who wasn't worried. And when he did return to her she already knew that they never more would be divided, for theirs was eternity and it was as it should be. Their path one of happiness and joy and it would continue in the blessed realm.


End file.
